Wardens of the Fae
by Steam Powered Crow
Summary: A response to Paladeus challenge "Champions of Lilith". With the Future all but lost, The Faerie Queen sends one of her last children to send Harry Potter and his lovey ladies, Hermione and Luna, back in time to prevent Voldemort's reign. Against Dark Lords, false friends and plotting old men, can they set the future right? Lunar Harmony. AD/SS/RW/MW/GW bashing.
1. Several Steps Back

**This story is a response to Paladeus challenge #11, "The Fairy Queen's Personal Army". This is also my first real attempt at writing, so I hope to get better as I go along. There also may be a small crossover with the Dresden Files, mostly concepts. I hope you enjoy.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I gaining any monetary gain from this story.

On with the show

* * *

Chapter 1: Several Steps Back, To Move Onwards

As Harry Potter walked into the study in the Potter Manor, perhaps the safest place in the world, he had expected to see his two wives arguing about something, if the noises he heard were any indication. What he hadn't expected was to see Hermione bound to a chair in what he could only guess was a Crumple-Horned Snorkack onesie, if the horn was any indication. Then again, with Luna, he really should expect something like that.

Speaking of Luna, she was seated in a rather comfy looking red armchair across from Hermione with a large, leather-bound tome in her hands, smiling gleefully at her bushy haired sister-wife.

Sighing, more for dramatic effect than anything else, Harry asked, "Ok, what happened now?"

"I wanted to take a look at this book, but Hermione wouldn't let me, so I decided to punish her", Luna said as she began to flip through the pages of the book.

Deciding to not waste time, Harry began to undo the spells laid on Hermione, "Luna you know it's polite to wait your turn, right?" he asked, grunting a bit as her spell was giving him a harder time undoing it than he thought.

"I waited my turn last night," Luna said, the book now upside down and her head tilted to one side.

Hermione, freed from the binding part of the spell, retorted, "No, you didn't. Once I got him on his back, **you** were all over us." Her scolding had little to no heat in it thought.

Luna shrugged, the book now held side ways, " I waited 30 seconds, you were taking to long. Two witches work better than one, Mother always said."

"Somehow I don't think she meant in those cases," Hermione retorted, standing up as Harry finished breaking the binding and banishing the onesie. "At least it's good practice for Harry when you bind me like that."

"Since **you're** so great at breaking spells, Hermione, why don't _you_ ever break out of Luna's traps on your own?" Harry asked, a knowing smirk on his lips.

Hermione huffed, Luna's uncanny ability to make spells she couldn't break was sore spot. She had trained hard to be what would have been an expert curse-breaker a few years back.

"So what kind of book warranted such a spirited response," Harry inquired, for only something truly interesting would grab Luna's attention to the point of invoking a Snorkack in her binding.

Hermione took the book from Luna, who had it held at the 45 degree angle now, "It's a collection of rituals and rites. I was hoping that maybe we overlooked something." She trailed off at the end, hope evident in her tone.

Harry smiled at that. Even after three years virtually trapped at the Manor and everything that had happened before then, the fact that they still had hope, were still trying to fight only deepened the love he felt for his girls.

Voldemort's rise to power had been a brutal ,but efficient one. His time spent in the shadows after his resurrection, aided by the Ministry's refusal to believe Harry's testimony on the subject, let him gather his forces, his most faithful from Azkaban along with the Dementors, werewolves, giants and other dark creatures.

When his major offensive came, the Ministry folded like a house of cards.

"So anything worth looking into?" Harry asked his two lovely wives as he retreated to the well worn couch. The girls joining him, one on each side a moment latter, the book now on his lap.

" Nothing we can use now," Hermione said sadly, " most of these rituals are meant to increase ones magic power. Best used while ones magic is still growing, around age 14 or so."

"Also the best ones are the ones requiring a deflowering," Luna said cheerfully.

Harry chocked at a "What?" and was glad he wasn't drinking, though one now may have been a good idea.

"Oh yes, the sacrifice of virginity at a time of great magic upheaval, Halloween, for example, allows for ones core to grow extremely powerful," Luna explained, slipping into her 'lecture mode'. She only entered that mode for something serious, which apparently ranged from sex rituals to pudding flavors.

"Pity all our first time did was cement our love for each other," Hermione retorted, sarcasm dripping from every word.

Luna shrugged as she cuddled into Harry, " It would have been a nice bonus."

Hermione nodded, mirroring Luna's action. Harry smiled as he wrapped his arms around them.

* * *

The threesome spent some time in comfortable silence, until Harry glanced at the clock on the mantle. _'Almost five,'_ Harry thought, _'Better get started on dinner.'_

Just as Harry began to rise, a plum of soot shot out of the fireplace. The trio wasted not time, rising and launching stunners at the black cloud.

"Hold, Wizards," a voice came out of the soot cloud, a deep, weary filled bass, " I mean you no harm."

"Give us an Oath that you mean that," Harry spat out, whoever this was had found them and got through their wards, he was taking no chances.

" I give you my Word, sworn on my Power, that I mean you, Harry James Potter, Hermione Jean Granger, Luna Selena Lovegood, no harm. So mote it be," the voice intoned. A flash of power flowed from the fireplace, giving the trio of wizards a moment of pause. It felt like a magic oath, but the wording was different than how they knew. The intruder didn't even use his name.

 _'Formation B',_ Harry projected to Hermione and Luna. The girls made no outward indication of hearing him, but they moved, Hermione now in the center, with Harry and Luna slightly behind on each side.

"Who are you?" Hermione asked.

The voice gave a small chuckle. "Normally I prefer the phrase 'Believing is Seeing', but Time presses." And with that the soot cloud vanished. In front of the fireplace stood their visitor. He was tall, a bear of a man, with broad shoulders stooped over with what looked like a great weight. A worn coat of what was once bright red fastened with a black leather belt hung loosely over what was once a large belly. His face looked gaunt, his blue eyes dim and a bit sunken. His white hair was falling out in places and his beard was a mess. To Harry and Hermione, he looked like Sirius did after he escaped Azkaban.

Luna dropped her wand as she ran towards the man, tears welling up. "No," she whimpered, " no, no, no." She hugged him with all her might, tears falling in his coat.

Santa, for there was no mistaking who the man was, bent a bit, one arm embracing Luna in a hug. "I'm afraid so, little one. Time is short. But," a twinkle came to his eyes, like a fire now blazed in the dimmed orbs, full of determination, " that is why I am here." His gaze fell to Harry and Hermione, "May I take a seat? My strength is not what it used to be."

Harry nodded, his heart torn by Luna's reaction to the man and his broken appearance. He didn't need his neuromancy to know Hermione was in a similar state. They retreated to the couch, Luna rushing to cuddle up between them, her eyes still wet. Her uncanny ability to know the truth of something had rarely hurt her like this so whatever was going on with Santa was bad.

Santa practically collapsed into the large armchair, his strength leaving him. He took a moment to gather himself before speaking. " I am Santa as you have guesses and I am here on behalf of my Queen, Titania. She wishes to extend an offer to the three of you. A change to fix the world before everything fell apart."

"Your Queen," Hermione asked?

"Yes, Titania is the Queen of the Fairies, Queen and Mother to us all. Her strength is ours and ours is hers. And our strength is all but gone. Voldemort seeks to take our power, our longevity for himself. We live because of the believes of you humans, Muggle and wizard alike. From the good will of man. The horrors of his war and all the loss have left us weak and vulnerable. We were unable to stop him from summoning us," Santa said, his voice failing him.

"How can we help," Harry choked out, even with all this war had shown them, and all they had done to survive, thinking about what Voldemort was doing sickened him.

Santa gave a small smile. " My areas of expertise is not limited to toy making. How do you think I managed to get around the world in one night?"

"Time Travel," Hermione exclaimed, "but a time tuner could only take us back twelve hours at most."

"My method is a bit different than a time tuner, Miss Granger. You three will not be going back as you are. Instead, your minds will travel back into your younger selves. This will in turn effectively erase this world and the horrors that have consumed it. No paradoxes to worry about."

"Tell them how you're going to do it," Luna sniffled out, her eyes red. Sometimes she hated her gift.

Santa sighed. " Titania will gather all the power the Fae have left and give it to me to do this. We will all die."

"No, you can't do that," Harry shouted, he hated the idea of someone dieing for him, too many had done it before.

Santa held up a pacifying hand. "Remember, doing this will undo this time line. We Faeries are not bound solely by linear time. Even now I can feel other versions of my self in other time-lines, some worse, some better. Our dying here allows us to live in other worlds."

Hermione chewed her lip. She didn't like the cost of this any more than her lovers did, but the opportunity to fix everything was too great to miss. "Harry, Luna, I think we can't pass this up. We've been fighting a losing battle for ten years. We can stop the war before it begins. Save so many."

"I agree," Luna said, her voice a mere whisper, " I don't like it, but I know we have to do it."

Harry nodded; before fixing his gaze on Santa. " We'll do it. Like 'Mione said, it's too big an opportunity to pass up." Being able to stop Voldemort before he become to much to stop, or even before his resurrection, was a dream come true.

Santa returned Harry's gaze, a weary smile on his face, " Well then, there is only one last detail to iron out; your Boons."

"Boons," Hermione asked, "what kind of boons?"

"Our Queen is asking you to undertake a dangerous, perilous task. She, and the rest of the Fae, would be remiss if we did not, properly, compensate you."

"But we're doing this to save you," Luna said, her voice back to its normal, airy quality. "We don't need anything else, especially with what you have to do to give us this chance."

Santa smiled as he shook his head. "We are already going to die. That is something nothing but what we do here can stop. If you want, you can use these gifts as us investing in your success. And besides, are you three going to deny Santa one last gift run?"

"Of course not, Santa," Harry quickly said, not wanting to further offend their benefactor, before he was the Fae's mirthful expression and twinkling eye. " You're taking the mickey out of us."

"I believe I'm entailed to one last laugh, aren't I," Santa asked, a smile tugging on his lips. He chuckled a big before sighing, "Now then, your Boons. I first must apologize for my vagueness, but that is what tradition dictates, so no complaining. Please, rise."

The trio did, Harry in the middle, Hermione to his left and Luna his right.

"Hermione Jean Granger, your gift is of the Past, may it be the foundation for the Future." He pasted a gloved hand over Hermione's head as he spoke, a faint silver glow enveloping her.

"Harry James Potter, your gift is of the Present, may it guide your steps." Harry too was enveloped in silver as Santa's hand passed overhead.

"Luna Selena Lovegood, your gift is of the Future, stronger than before. May it see all the wondrous possibilities." Luna joined her loves in silver light, her hand reaching out for Harry's, as his went for Hermione's.

Santa's right hand returned to in front of Hermione and his left hand mirrored it's brother in front of Luna. "Your gifts will be apparent when you return, to a time of rebirth. We, the Fae, implore you to correct the path the world has taken, to end the nightmare of Tom Marvolo Riddle, and after victory is assured, live, and be happy." Santa took in a breath, magic power gathering around him in a golden nimbus.

With a thunderous roar, he cried out, "In the name of Titania, Queen of the Faeries, I cast you back!"

The silver light encasing the trio grew to a blinding radiance, and the three lovers felt a great tug, as if they where being Portkeyed. As the pulling became stronger, one last thought pasted through the three's minds.

 _I love you._

And the present fell away.

* * *

 **And we're off. Hope you all are ready for a ride, and hope I don't run out of gas. Review if you feel so inclined.**

 **Signing off and flying away.**


	2. Re-Living After Midnight

**Wow, thanks everybody for following, reviewing and adding this to your favorites. You like me, you really like me. No point on keeping you here. On with the show.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I gaining any monetary gain from this story.

Here we go

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Chapter 2: Re-Living after Midnight.

Harry awoke with a start, gasping for air. It felt like he was wearing clothes several sizes too small, only instead of clothes, it was his skin that was too small. He forced himself to remain still, running through multiplication tables to calm his mind. A basic trick he'd picked up studying neuromancy, do a repetitious, boring task to focus the mind. Much better that just shouting at someone to ' _Clear your mind_ '.

A few minutes later, and more comfortable in his own skin, Harry sat up. ' _Ok, I'm back. Now when am I?'_ He turned his mind outward, his senses tuning towards the feeling the thoughts of those in the room and ignoring everything else. ' _One, two, three, four, five!'_ , he counted. Five other people in the room, all asleep. Suppressing the slight murderous thoughts towards two of those people, he began to puzzle out his location.

' _It's before the end of Third year,'_ Harry thought as he got out his bed, going towards his trunk. ' _N_ _imbus 2000_ _and, there it is, Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2. Second year, then._ _Santa said something about a time of rebirth.'_ A flash of inspiration played across his eyes and he lifted the right sleeve of his pajamas. A small, circular scar stood out against the lean muscle built up over two years of Quidditch.

 _'After the Chamber then. Wait, is it before the Mandrake potion is done? Where's Hermione…,'_ Harry's line of thought was interrupted by a sudden spark of information, that Hermione was in the Hospital Wing awake and doing much the same as he had. Harry staggered a bit, ' _That was new. Santa gave us each a gift. Was that mine?'_

Deciding it would be better to figure out what he had experienced with his loves, he grabbed his Cloak and mad his way towards the porthole. Just as he reached the exit of the Common-room, he though, ' _Ravenclaw's on the 7_ _th_ _floor too. Maybe Luna's…'_ The same spark lit his mind, and Luna was right outside the portrait of the Fat Lady.

* * *

After waking in her 12 year old body with little more than a moment to adjust, Luna quickly scrambled out of bed and set about to change. ' _I doubt people would like seeing me in a nightgown at this hour. Plus that's reserved for Harry and Hermione.'_ She donned her apparel, though the lack of shoes and socks in her wardrobe set her mouth into a small frown. ' _It is truly sad, the cruelties of children,_ _'_ Luna thought, remembering her years at Hogwarts. She pushed those dark memories aside, she had her loves to find.

 _'At this hour, they'd be in bed, most likely,'_ Luna reasoned. Quickly casting a muffling charm and Disillusioned herself, noting that it took far more out if her than it should, she set out towards Gryffindor. A few minutes later she was at the portrait of the Fat Lady. Luna knew she had to wait, Harry and Hermione would be down sooner rather than later, assuming they all came back and woke up at the same time. A minute later, the portrait flew open.

The moment the passage opened, Luna found herself in Harry's arms, the feeling was both familiar and different, ' _Like a new recipe for an old pudding flavor,'_ Luna though as she returned the hug. Though soon a frown marred her face.

"Harry, where's Hermione," Luna asked, unable to keep the small amount to fear out of her voice.

"She's fine," he said, stroking her hair in a soothing manor, " she's in the Hospital Wing. We're only a few days after I went into the Chamber of Secrets. She and the others were just de-petrified."

Luna relaxed at that. She'd didn't know of everything her loves had done in the years before she met them. _'I'll have to have them tell me happened between my 2_ _nd_ _and 4_ _th_ _years.'_ She was not going to take any chances of losing them.

Luna was about to disengage from Harry when she noticed that her arms matched Harry's sleeping shirt. "Harry, can you see me?"

Harry blinked. "No, I _can't_ see you, but I _know_ where you are. It's weird, like I have the Marauder's Map in my head. That's how I know where Hermione is. I wondered where she was, and I knew. I think it's part of the boon Santa gave us."

Luna nodded thoughtfully. It made sense. "We can figure it out later, we have to liberate Hermione." And with that she took hold of Harry and began to drag him towards the Hospital Wing. She was surprisingly strong for someone her size.

* * *

Harry had been able to stop Luna before she had dragged him pasted the 5th floor. When she set her mind to something, she was hard pressed to stop. Only a promise of pudding and cuddling had stopped her. Now they were under the Cloak, making their way at a more sedate pace. Once they reached the doors to the Hospital Wing, Harry decided to check the Wing his with his new ability.

"Hermione's awake. Colin, Justin, Penelope and Weasley are asleep. Madam Pomfrey's in her room, asleep," he reported, "I could get used to having this."

Luna nodded. "Are we going to encourage them to stay asleep?"

"Of course," Harry said as he drew his wand. He waved it in a high arc, from left to right, intoning " _Somnolus"_ as it passed over the door. A faint blue glow bloomed out of the wand as it traced its arc and the air wavered, moving outward towards and through the door.

Harry looked at his wand as the spell did its work, his brow furrowed . Luna noticed his gaze and said, "The spell was harder to preform, wasn't it? The same thing happened with my Disillusionment."

Harry sighed, nothing ever went off without a hitch. "We'll figured it out later. I doubt we'll need to cast our stronger spells anything soon."

Nodding, Luna said, "Well let's not keep our Hermione waiting any longer."

Harry opened the doors, a loving smile on his face when he saw Hermione seated in a bed, a 'what kept you so long' look on her face. Said smile became a smirk as Luna launched herself at the bushy haired witch. _'At least she didn't shout or anything. I'm not sure if the sleeping spell could counter that, even at full power,'_ he thought as he watched his loves reunite. Luna had Hermione in her death hug, one Hermione eagerly returned, her hand moving through the blondes' long tresses.

Harry soon joined his loves, leaning over the bed to hug them. He broke off from the hug shortly after, saying, "Ok, a hospital is not the best place for this reunion."

Luna giggled, "Yes it smells far too much medicine. And there are too many people, even if they are sleeping."

"So the Room then," Hermione said as she got out of her bed. She frown as she realized she was in a sleeping gown. And her clothes weren't in sight. Neither was her wand.

Just as she was about to mention that fact, Hermione felt dizzy. Her vision swam and she was no longer seeing the current Hospital Wing. She saw the beds near her filled with petrified students. She turned to her own bed and saw herself, frozen. She repressed a shudder. She watched as Madam Pomfrey, after setting her on the bed, took her bag to her office, her wand sticking out of it.

The vision flashed and Hermione snapped back to the present, with Harry and Luna were staring at her.

"What?"

"Mione, you just froze there. Have you gotten a Wracksprut infestation? I always thought there was a nest somewhere near here," Luna said, her eyes now darting about the room.

"I," Hermione started, "I'm not sure what just happened. I wondered where my wand was and I saw, a memory, I guess. It was when I was brought in after Penelope and I were petrified. I saw Madam Pomfrey take my wand and bag to her office."

"It has to be your gift from Santa," Harry stated "I've got something like the Marauder's Map in my head. I just have to think of someone and I know where they are and what they're doing."

"My gift is still hiding. I look ever so forward to finding it. It's almost like being on an expedition," Luna added, swaying slightly with a small, serene smile on her face.

"We can add that to the list of things to talk about. I'm getting my wand," Hermione said making her way to the Matron's office. Luna and Harry on her heel. Madam Pomfrey's office was utilitarian, a simple, oak desk with no clutter on it stood near the back of the room. A bookcase with medical tomes stood to the desk's left, a file cabinet on the right. A low shelf stood along the left wall, where several bags and other belongs sat. Hermione retrieved her wand and transfigured her nightgown into a simple dress, frowning at the extra effort she needed to do so.

"My spells weaker than before. Something to do with coming back," she asked her companions. They nodded, deepening Hermione's frown. _'It's the end of 2_ _nd_ _year, we don't need our adult power but it would have made everything easier.'_ "Harry, how long will your sleeping spell last?"

"They should stay asleep for three hours, four tops. More than enough time," Harry replied.

"Then what are we waiting for," Luna said as she grabbed the Cloak and threw it around them.

* * *

The door to the Room of Requirements appeared as the trio walked pasted the once empty wall for a third time. The trio walked into a familiar setting; the sitting room back at Potter Manor. The same worn but comfy couch, the ornate fireplace flanked by bookshelves full to bursting, the tapestries depicting famous events and magic creatures covered the stone walls.

The trio sat themselves on the couch, Harry in the center with Luna on his right and Hermione on his left, their usual position. "Ok," Harry began once they were comfortably seated, "where should we begin?"

"Well, we're somewhen in 1993, at least after May 30th ," Hermione noted, "and before June 1st when I got out of the hospital. So odds are it's May 31st."

"That sounds about right," Luna piped in, "so what major events happen next year?"

"Sirius," Harry exclaimed, "He escapes Azkaban in a month or so." Harry mulled over his next thought. "We could get him out earlier. Wormtail has no idea we know about him. We can stun him and send him to the DMLE."

Hermione smiled sadly at Harry. "Harry that won't work. Fudge didn't believe us last time. And there's no guaranty that Wormtail won't somehow worm his way out of being convicted of those murders or betraying your parents."

"So we can't do anything, huh," Harry snapped hotly, getting up from the couch, "we just let Sirius remain a fugitive, let Wormtail run back to Riddle!"

"You know that's not what Hermione means," Luna said in her soft, lilting voice as she embraced Harry from behind. She hated when Harry got like this, all angry and irrational. "We're kids right now. We have no power. No one will believe us without real proof."

Harry had stiffened when Luna hugged him. Not out of surprise or unfamiliarity, but out of Luna's emotions. He _felt_ her discomfort at his actions and angry and it bought about a bout of self-loathing.

He turned around without breaking Luna's hug and returned it, placing a kiss on her brow. "Sorry," he said his voice cracking, "sorry. I don't know what came over me. I wasn't thinking strait. I'm an idiot."

"No, you're a boy. They tend to do stupid things from time to time," Luna sniffed out.

"Then it's a good thing I have two of the smartest witches to make sure I don't do dumb things."

They returned to the couch and Harry turned to Hermione, "Sorry I blew up there. It's just, we've got the chance to fix everything and just sitting by and letting things happen as they did feels like we're taking this for granted."

"We aren't," Hermione said, "but we can't do things without thinking things though. We could make things worse than before by being too headstrong."

"Right, no jumping of cliffs or rushing off to Azkaban," Harry noted. Hoping to get back on track, he added, "So, how _are_ we going to clear Sirius' name?"

"I need to look up the laws and records. There are so many things about Sirius' imprisonment that don't add up."

Luna perked up. Investigating was fun. It wouldn't be a Snorkack hunt, but still fun. "What sort of things," she asked.

Hermione held up her and raised her index finger. "One, the DMLE should have done a _Prior Incantatem_ on Sirius' wand, which would have showed he didn't cast the spell that blew up the street. Two," the next finger went up, " between a Penseive, Veritaserum, and Legilimency, how is it that at no time did Sirius attest to his innocence and offer to prove it. And three," the ring finger joined its sisters, " If a trial did happen, there should be a record. If there isn't one, and nobody remembers a trial, than someone was sent to Azkaban without being found guilty."

"We already know they'll send someone there without a trial, Hagrid was. Hell he was there a day ago," Harry pointed out.

"Exactly," Hermione said, "the laws in the Wizarding Briton are so messed up. Your own trial was a sham, Harry."

"Right, after Riddle we work on fixing the legal structure," Harry joked.

"We will need a hobby," Luna added, "other than sex, of course."

Hermione lightly shoved Harry into Luna, though the smile on her face betrayed her feelings on the matter. "At least we'll have time to work this out before the term ends. And to think I was _aghast_ at the exams being canceled last time, now we've got time to prep before we get separated."

That brought the mood down. In the ten years they had been together, both before the relationship started and after, they had never been apart for more than a few hours, the fear of losing the others made it hard to want to be truly apart. Now there was a two and a half month gap.

"It won't be that bad," Harry said trying to bring the mood back up, " I can take the Knight Bus to see you two."

Hermione shook her head. "This was the year my parents took me to France remember. We left a few days after I got home."

"Daddy's gonna take me to look for Winged Hedgewibblers," Luna added.

"Ok then," Harry said, "we'll just have to get everything done before we leave. And I can still do stuff over the summer in Diagon Alley." He wasn't about to let them sacrifice time with their parents.

Luna decided to show her appreciation by grabbing Harry's head and smashing her lips to hers. Hermione just shook her head, she'd learned to just roll with Luna's random bouts of extreme affection. _'At least she kept their clothes on. That would make things awkward.'_

Luna broke away from Harry, a sly smile on her face. _'Oh yes, the next few years are going to be so much better.'_ Harry looked rather bewildered, his mouth agape and eyes unfocused.

"Well, uh, that was," he tried to say. _'Damn twelve year old body.'_

Hermione laughed at his plight, up until Luna pounced at her and gave her an equally hard kiss. She did take it better than Harry and returned the kiss, thought not at Luna's level.

"Oh yes," Luna said as she puller herself off Hermione, her tone even more dreamy than usual, " much better."

"What's better," Harry asked, his brain rebooted during Luna and Hermione's snog.

"School will be," came her reply as she leaned her head on his shoulder and Harry's arm warped around her on reflex.

Hermione was about to join her lovers in a cuddle session when she glanced at the clock on the mantle. It read 4:45. She sighed.

"As much as I want to just stay here, I have to be back in the Hospital Wing before Madam Pomfrey wakes up."

"Or you'll turn into a pumpkin like that Cinder-Bella,"Luna asked.

"That was Cinderella and she didn't turn into anything," Hermione answered, " is there anything else we need to settle before we go back?"

Harry shook his head, "I've got nothing yet, but we'll need to keep in touch over the summer. Luna, do you and your dad have an owl?"

"We do, Arixmethes. Mother named him, but he's mostly used to deliver issues of _The Quibbler_ and he doesn't go with us on expedition," Luna said before sighing, " if only we could Apperate. It would make everything easier."

Harry perked up. "We can't, but I know someone who can and he'll be looking for a job right about now."

Hermione looked puzzled for a moment before she realized who he was talking about. "Harry you don't mean.."

Harry smiled, "Yep, I do. Dobby!"

No sooner than the last syllable had left his lips did the house elf appear, dressed in that dirty pillow case. Though the torn bottom was new, as was the dark sock on his right foot held up by a strip of pillowcase.

"The great Harry Potter has called Dobby! How may Dobby be helping Harry Potter sir," the eager elf said.

Harry smiled at his old friend. He hadn't seen the elf since his 6th year. He had heard thought the small pockets of resistance that Dobby had been assisting the students who were against Riddle, hiding them and preventing the Dark Lords servants from harming them. He did not know Dobby ultimate fate, but here and now, he was determined to be there for him.

"Well Dobby, I realized that because of me, you're out of a job."

"Oh no, Harry Potter sir," Dobby said frantically, "you have done Dobby a great thing. Dobby did not like working for bad old masters."

"I know, but still I did trick old Malfoy into freeing you, so I was wondering; do you want to work for me?"

Dobby looked like all his dreams came true and Christmas came early. "Harry Potter sir wants Dobby to be his elf?"

Harry smiled at the elf. " Yep, but I'm thinking of doing things a little differently. So Dobby how does two Galleons a week and every other weekend off sound to you?"

"You want to _pay_ Dobby? Oh Dobby has heard of how great Harry Potter is and seen it too, but this makes Harry Potter even grander!" Dobby was practically bouncing around the room, his eyes filled with happy tears.

"So can I take that as a yes,"Harry asked, wondering if Dobby would try to negotiation his pay and benefits down.

Dobby nodded, his ear flapping so hard the trio feared they'd fall off. "Dobby would be honored to work for Harry Potter," he said before bowing deeply.

"Ok Dobby," Harry said once the elf rose from his bow, " I'm sure you know who Hermione is," Harry pointed to said witch, at which Dobby nodded, " and this is Luna."

Luna got down on one knee to be at Dobby level and addressed him, "Hello Dobby, I'm Luna Lovegood. Harry has told me all about you. Cursing that Bludger was quite inventive."

Dobby was taken aback by Luna's actions. "Harry Potter has such wonderful friends."

"I'm glad you feel that way Dobby," Harry said, happy his employee was getting along with his loves. Not that he had a real worry about that. Now all he needed was something to keep Dobby occupied when he didn't need him for something. A board house elf was a neurotic house elf.

Luna caught Harry's eye and he let his mind wonder into her's. ' _Let me take care of Dobby'_ she thought.

Harry nodded.

"Dobby," Harry said getting the elf's attention, " Hermione and Luna are my equals in everything and that includes being your bosses. Are you ok with that?"

"Dobby is very much ok with listening to Miss Hermy and Miss Luna."

Luna smiled and Hermione groaned at how Dobby referred to her. Luna bent down to address Dobby. "Dobby, I'd like to ask you if you want to help my father with keeping our house?"

"Dobby would like that Miss Luna."

"Good," Luna exclaimed, "I'll write Daddy a letter explaining how I meet you. It's going to be made up but that will be ok. When I finish it, I'll call you."

Dobby nodded, "Yes Miss Luna. Dobby'll be listening. Does Miss Hermy or Harry Potter needs anything?"

"No Dobby, we're good. Right Hermione?"

"Yes we're fine."

"Then Dobby will be goings now." And with that he snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Hermione looked at the clock. It read 5:15. "We really need to get back now. Some heroes we'd be if we get caught on the 1st day."

Luna nodded as Harry grabbed the Cloak. He held out his arms for his girls to take and once they had, he moved the Cloak over them and the left the Room.

* * *

 **And break. That's chapter two, hope you find it amenable. And don't worry, I'll be showing Luna's gift next chapter. And a bonus internet cookie for anyone who can guess my inspiration for Harry's Gift. Reviews are food. Feed me, Please.**


	3. Stroll down Memory's Lane

**Two chapters in and 101 Favorites and 207 Followers and 42 reviews. I must be doing something right. Let's get a read on.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I gaining any monetary gain from this story.

* * *

Ch 3: Stroll down Memory's Lane

The trip back to the Hospital Wing was uneventful, none of the students were awake and willing to risk running into Filch. Said caretaker was near the kitchen, perhaps hoping to catch any early birds wanting to snag a bite to eat. And being able to know all that made Harry rather excited.

"It's even better than the Map," he said, after checking his gift to see if anyone was around, "I can even track the ghosts and Peeves."

"How about animals," Luna asked.

Harry's mind went to the area of the school with the greatest animal concentration: the Owlery. Only a few of it's normal occupants were there, the owls that had finished hunting and did not have mail to deliver. Among them was a regal, snowy owl resting at one of the tallest perches.

"Hedwig," Harry said, a stupid grin blooming on his face. His loyal owl was there, alive and well. He regarded his companions as they continued their trek, "Is it bad that I'm more relieved that Hedwig is ok more than everyone else who's not dead yet?"

"Not really," Luna shrugged, "Hedwig's more than an owl to you."

Hermione nodded. She remembered the times she and seen Hedwig with Harry, how happy he'd been when she would visit the table in the Great Hall just to see him. She knew that losing her had hurt him, ripped away what little childhood innocence he had remaining. Seeing that goofy, carefree grin strengthen her resolve, to end the war before it could even begin, to preserve that happiness. A glace at Luna showed that same look on her face.

* * *

The occupants of the Hospital Wing were still safely wrapped in the sleeping spell when the threesome arrived. As Hermione canceled the transfiguration on her dress, returning it to her sleeping gown, Harry made his way towards Madam Pomfrey's sleeping quarters.

"Harry," Hermione whispered, "What are you doing?"

"If we're right, today's the 31st. You want out before tomorrow, don't you," Harry asked as he drew his wand, checking the Matron's door for any spells.

"Well, yes," Hermione said, "But there are more ways than jumping into a person's mind."

"But it is the fastest way," Luna piped in as she sauntered over to the door, running her own checks, "Besides, Harry can check the date and anything we don't already know. I've always wondered if Madam Pomfrey knew about the restorative properties of the Omnivorous Tempestchaser."

Harry and Luna finished their respective sweeps. Harry leaned his thoughts towards Luna's, a move nearly reflexive. In a flash of insight, both knew what the other has detected and smiled.

"No wards or counter spells," Luna muttered, a bit disappointed she wouldn't get to tinker. Breaking spells was ever so much fun.

With a light flick, Harry had opened the door. Like her office, Madam Pomfrey kept her sleeping chambers free of clutter. A few dressers, a bed, a door to the en suit bath and a simple clock on the wall. Said clock read 5:40.

Hermione, who had elected to peer into the room, noted the time. "You have twenty minutes before the clock goes off and I'm guessing that the sleeping spell is nearly burnt out."

"Yeah," Harry nodded, before taking a few calming breathes as he moved to Madam Pomfrey's bedside. "I should be able out in 10 minutes, 15 tops. Wish me luck," he said with a small smirk.

Luna bound up, capturing his lips in a short kiss. Harry's composure held this time. Hermione shook her head at the antics of her lovers, before she gave Harry a short peck. "Be careful," she whispered.

"Of course, I have a few someones to come back too," came his reply, his standard saying before going anywhere without them.

A few more breaths and he took his stance, his wand trained on Madam Pomfrey's brow. " _Legilimens._ "

* * *

The mind arts were something that had become watered down over the centuries. In the time of the Founders, Salazar Slytherin skill in what is know as Legilimency was part of what made him a feared wizard. The skill to delve into the minds of others, to read memories, glean plans and gauge emotions could enable one wizard to hold off many.

Of course, such an accomplishment in the modern time was impossible. The mind arts, Neuromancy, had broken into two distinct branches; the outward Legilimency and the inwards Occlumancy. And from there they weakened. What once could pinpoint a single memory now was forced to watch a litany of images. The results of unskilled Neuromancers professing themselves as masters and teaching their weakened craft.

Or rather impossible for anyone who did not have a guide on Neruromancy, painstakingly recreated by one of his ancestors, a lot of time to train, and two lovely witches who trusted him implicitly to practice with.

Flashes of memory and dream played before Harry, like he was the eye of a storm of images. They were indistinct, a consequence of entering a sleeping mind. Under most circumstances, a sleeping target was immune to Legilimency. Form Harry, he needed a point of reference, to focus the target to a specific memory.

For this task Harry thought of a calendar, a simple, blank calendar. Blank as to not call on a specific date, but rather to draw from the most recent memory relating to that concept.

The storm of images faded and in its place a single image took shape. Unlike a Penseive, the image was from the point of view of the owner, and this image showed Madam Pomfrey's office, just as neat and organized as it was now. Madam Pomfrey was, without a doubt sitting at her desk, sorting the various papers ruining her desk's coordination with the room. Those papers were medical files, the ones for the victims of the basilisk, detailing her examinations during their stay through the petrifaction and their return to normal. The last notes in each file noted that date as 'May 30th'.

' _Bingo,'_ Harry thought, ' _and now for the compulsion._ ' The view screen faded as the dark abyss surrounding Harry began to fill with color and shape. Now Harry was standing in the middle of the Hospital Wing, five beds occupied. A moment later, Madam Pomfrey appeared and began making her rounds, pausing at each of the filled beds to examine it's occupant.

Harry made his way to Pomfrey's side, reading himself. Compulsions were a tricky thing; some, like the Muggle Repelling charm worked by planting an idea into the targets mind, like needing to be somewhere else or doing something else. The problem there was the forced excuses was random and too varied, ranging from ' _Did I leave the oven on?'_ to ' _I really could go for some ice cream now._ ' The worked for Muggles as they had no real resistance to the magic. Wizards could reject such compulsions.

Targeted compulsions worked best on wizards and witches, but they too had weaknesses. Trying to make someone do something too far out of character could break the victim's mind, leaving them catatonic or stripped of rationality. That's not to say it was impossible to do so, it just required a fair amount of skill, and knowing how to work the target's mind to accept the command. Though for such a task, the Imperius Curse was an easier, simpler option.

Making someone do something they already might do was, in contrast, almost too easy. Since Madam Pomfrey was supposed to check the condition of those under her care and release them when they are deemed well, than making her do so, with the compelling making her see that they were ready to leave and not need an extra day for observation, was as simple as breathing.

' _They are ready to leave,_ ' Harry whispered in Madam Pomfrey's ear as she made her rounds to her wards, repeating it at each stop and making the circuit seven times. After the seventh time, the routine changed as after the matron left each bed, the occupant began to rise. Nodding to himself, Harry pulled himself back to his body, his job done.

* * *

After returning to the outside world, and at Luna's instance, tucking Hermione into her bed, Harry and Luna made their way out of the Hospital Wing. The pair made their way back to the 7th floor. As they reached the midway point between their respective common rooms, Luna asked, "So, what are you going to do today, Harry?"

Harry ran his fingers though his hair, "I'm not sure. I guess I could help Hermione with her research. Or did you need something?"

Luna shook her head, "No, what I've got planned is a one witch job. Bringing you would be cheating." She paused, tilting her head as she thought. An idea popped into her head and she smiled."Harry," she began, "how about you have a chat with Professor McGonagall and change you elective for next year."

Harry looked gobsmacked for a moment before giving Luna a quick kiss and wrapping her in a hug. "Brilliant idea, Luna. How did I not think about that, I don't want to be stuck in Divination again."

"Oh you would have though about it eventually," Luna said, snuggling into Harry, "Are you going to take Ancient Runes?"

"Yeah, I doubt I'll be as good as you and Mione but it'll be good to know."

"You did fairly well with what we taught you, you'll do fine."

"Right," Harry said as he broke the embrace, students were due to wake up and standing in-between two of them was a good way to get caught. They could do without the rumors.

"We'd better get going," Luna said before she gave Harry a peck on the cheek, "Best to avoid the Wrackspruts."

Harry watched as she skipped away. He couldn't help but to smile. Luna had always been the one to try keep their spirits up during the war, both through innocent and less than innocent actions. Her airy personality was something Harry had come to need, a breath of life amongst all the death. He suspected Hermione held a similar position on the matter.

Shaking his head, Harry turned towards Gryffindor, he at least had to look the part of a student on a class day. At least being a few days after going into the Chamber meant he had all ready dealt with people pestering him for details.

* * *

Luna had employed her skill at Disillusionment to quietly enter the Ravenclaw common room. She always though it was a somewhat cold room, perhaps the paintings of stars added to that, or the whistling winds that caught her ear.

Luna didn't really care for her common room as she rarely spent any time there and most likely wouldn't any time soon. She hurried up to her dorm room to change. Thankfully none of her clothes had gone missing in the few hours she had been out. Still no socks or shoes. Before she was content to wait for them to be returned. While she still did not care all to much about the loss of her clothing, she was not adverse stopping it.

A few spells on her trunk to stop intruders, one of her one design, would do the trick. Now dressed and her belongings better protected, she was set to head to breakfast. ' _I still need to find my shoes and socks, though,_ ' she thought as she left the common room, ' _maybe I can ask Dobby to help. Will having him look for clothes set him free? Though we are paying him, I'll need to ask him_ _his opinion of this_ _._ '

As Luna made her way down to the Great Hall, she became aware of two followers. She resisted her urge to take cover and let loose spells. The worst that could follow her now were bullies and she was confidant she could deal with them if the need arose.

Her shadows decided to make their move as Luna turned down a fairly underused corridor. "Hey Loony," one of them called out. Luna, knowing it was pointless to avoid this turned to face Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe. Both 3rd years at this time, they stood a good distance away from her, ' _Dueling distance,_ ' Luna idly noticed. Sighing she responded, "Is there something I can help you, Cho, Marietta?"

"Well," Cho said, "with everything that was happening around here, Marietta and I realize we haven't been spending any time with our favorite 1st year." Of course she meant they hadn't pulled any pranks or harassed her in the last few months. Everyone had been to scared to notice the airy blonde.

"So," Marietta continued fro Cho, "we decided to have a little pre-exam fun. How would you like a makeover, Loony?"

Luna didn't answer, she just stood eerily still and unblinking. She knew it was a forgone conclusion, they'd try to curse her no matter what she said or did. She just needed to dodge whatever spells came and counter. ' _If they had any real awareness they'd have realized my wand isn't behind my ear anymore._ ' Indeed, she had quickly moved her wand when she had turned the corner and hid it up her sleeve.

A sharp tug pulled at Luna temple and time seemed to slow. Faint, silvery shadows flowed around Chang and Edgecombe, mimicking their forms. The shadows moved into a dueling pose, wand raised and a tendril of smoke came out of the wands. The real forms of her taunters began to move, following the shadows' path. Before either could reach where their shadow was, Luna pitched to her side, revealing her wand and shouted, " _ **Stupify Bifur!**_ "

From her outstretched wand, a forked jet of red shot out, striking both Chang and Edgecombe in the chest. The fell to the floor, the stunner hitting true. Luna drew herself upright, breathing somewhat heavy. Splitting a spell meant either having a weaken spell hitting multiple targets, or overcharging it to work as normal. She had gone for the latter.

While she had no qualms about leaving Chang and Edgecombe in the hall unconscious, it could lead to problems latter. A quick Mobilicorpus on the two had placed them in an unused room. Luna debated on weather to place them under a compulsion but she decided against it. She did however put a small nightmare curse on them. Whatever scared them would be visiting them for the next week or so. _'I'll have to remember to put up a Silencing Charm at night_.' After a quick Obliviate on the two to remove their memory of seeing and confronting her, Luna returned on her trek to the Great Hall, all the while pondering to what extent her Gift worked. It was a good walk.

* * *

Breakfast on the 31st proceeded as normal until the petrified students entered. Cheers and claps erupted from three of the House Tables, Slytherin the sole holdout. The whole Hall did erupt when it was announced that the end of year exams were canceled. Hermione had to endure a flood of well-wishes, something she was not accustom to. She endured and was able to enjoy some breakfast. Halfway through her porridge, she noticed something.

"Where's Ronald,"she asked Harry, doing a good job at hiding the disgust in her voice.

Harry looked around, noting an absents of redheads at the Gryffindor table. "I don't know, he was still asleep when I changed and came here." He spied Dean a few seats down.

Waving to get his attention he asked, "Hey Dean, any clue where Ron's at. It's not like him miss breakfast." Harry was somewhat surprised how normal he sounded at questioning about the whereabouts of his former friend.

"Professor McGonagall came to get him and his brothers about an hour ago. I think I heard her say something about them going home," Dean answered. "You were up early, though. Trying to sneak out and go to the Hospital Wing?"

Harry smirked at Dean's assumptions. "Maybe," was his only reply. Dean was a good friend, never turned on him, stuck it out til the end. During their hunt for Riddle's soul anchors, the trio had run into him and the goblin Griphook. Unfortunately, a group of Snatchers were close by, and in the fire fight Dean had been hit and died.

Shoving away thoughts of what had happened, Harry sent Hermione a mental prod and an image of a certain room on the third floor. Hermione nodded slightly and got up to leave. As they made there way to the doors, Harry spied Luna's blond hair and sent the same image.

A few minutes later Harry and Hermione were outside the door to where Fluffy the Cerberus had been kept their 1st year. A minute later Luna skipped into view. They entered the room and after a quick succession of kisses Luna asked, "Why meet here and not the Room?"

"It's too far," came Harry's reply, "no one comes here away and I'm keeping watch with my Gift."

"Oh, that reminds me," Luna exclaimed, "my Gift came in."

"What does it do," Hermione questioned, already trying to divine what it could be based on her's and Harry's.

" I can see the future, sort of," she said, before her face scrunched up as she searched for the words to describe it. " Time slowed down and I could see a silver shadow of what Chang and Edgecombe were going to do."

"Wait," Hermione interrupted, "Chang and Edgecombe?"

"Oh yes, they tried to curse me," Luna said her tone too nonchalant for such a statement. On seeing Harry about to rush out to find them she continued, "Oh Harry calm down. I dealt with them."

Harry crossed his arms, frowning, "It's not that I don't trust your good enough to deal with them. I just hate how you were treated before we met."

"But I have you two now so no more being miserable."

Harry relaxed, though he resolved to check up on those two to, dissuade, them from bother Luna, or anyone else.

"So," Hermione interjected, " are either of you going to join me in the Library?"

"I will later," Harry said, "I need to see Professor McGonagall about changing Divination for Ancient Runes."

Hermione was glad Harry was dropping that farce of a class. She turned to Luna, "How about you Luna? We do need to 'meet' officially."

"I'd love to 'meet' you, but I need to do something very important."

"What," Hermione asked.

Luna gave a coy smile, "That's a secret. It's going to be a surprise."

Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance. Luna's surprises ran the gambit from fun, to terrifying, to down right erotic. They could only hope it would be a fun one.

"I should be done in a day or three. Oh can we have a party for the surprise?"

"Sure Luna," Harry said, sometimes it was better just to go along with Luna.

Luna gave Harry and Hermione a quick kiss on the lips before merrily stepping out of the room.

"Should we be scared," Hermione asked.

"I think the student body should be scarred more. I have a feeling," Harry said before giving Hermione a kiss and headed off.

Hermione shook her head. They were going to be the death of her. "And I wouldn't have it any other way." She too left the third floor room. She had a case to build and legalese to sift through. ' _Oh joy._ '

* * *

 **And we're done. All the gifts are revealed. What do you think about them? Let me know. My inspiration for them goes thus: Hermione's is based on object reading, though she can read an area as what happened last chapter. Harry's is based on** **I** **ntellectus** **from the** _ **Dresden Files.**_ **Luna's is based on Atium burning Allomancy from the** _ **Mistborn**_ **Trilogy.**

 **Next time we see what Luna's surprise is, follow Hermione on her dangerous trek into** **bureaucratic madness, and Harry runs into the bearded puppet master. Stay tune. And goodnight.**

* * *

 **Spell Lexicon:**

 **Stupify Bifur: A standard Stunning Spell that has been forked to hit two targets. Requires extra magic to control aim and retain spell power.**

 **Users: Luna Lovegood(creator)**


	4. Things to Do

**So I f** **lubbed a bit. Exams were canceled on the 1** **st** **of Jun** **e** **not May 31** **st** **. Eh, chalk it up to time travel inconsistencies.** **Or releasing the people from the Hospital Wing early. Thanks for all the reviews and what nots.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I gaining any monetary gain from this story.

* * *

Ch 4: Things to Do

 _May 31st_

After leaving the former home of a cerberus named Fluffy, Harry headed out to find his Head of House. A quick check of his internal Map showed his quarry was in her office, on the 1st floor in the Defense Against the Dark Arts tower. ' _I need to come up with a better name than that,_ ' Harry thought as he made his way to Professor McGonagall's office.

The corridors were rather empty, the student body was enjoying the nice weather untainted by exams to study for and centuries old basilisks. A window on the 2nd floor showed a good number of them on the grounds, free from worry. The sight brought out something ugly and sad in Harry. ' _How many of them died?_ _And how many fell to be his puppets.'_ His failure to stop Riddle, to find and destroy his Horcruxes, had weighed heavily on him. By the time Riddle assumed full control of Wizarding Briton, three had been destroyed: The Dairy, the Ring and the Locket. But then, a single nightmare vision shattered their hope.

 _Flashback_

 _Dec 22nd 1997_

 _Harry, Luna and Hermione had been hold up at Potter Manor for two months. They had met up with Dean Thomas, fellow former Hogwarts student, and the goblin Griphook. Both had been on the run; Dean for his heritage as a Muggle-born, and Griphook due to his repulsion to being under the yolk of Wizardkind._

 _The meet-up soon turned sour as the Snatchers arrived. They gloated that they had killed some members of the Order and how lucky they were to have found Harry Potter, Undesirable Number One. The ensuing fight had been a horrible one; Dean and Griphook fell, Hermione and Luna had be gravely injured, and only a timely and risky blind Apparition on Harry's part had saved them._

 _Only two good things came out of that fight. One was the discovery of Potter Manor, the location Harry had Apparated to. The second was the destruction of the locket Horcrux. As Harry fought, the moleskin pouch the locket was stored in had fallen from his pocket. One of the Snatchers had cast the Killing Curse at Luna and Harry, in panic, threw the pouch to intercept the deadly curse._

 _When the sickly green light hit the pouch, a deathly screech tore through the battlefield. Black, thick smoke billowed from the pouch. Both parties froze at this, before the battle resumed. Harry had picked up the pouch before seeing Hermione and Luna taken down._

 _During the aftermath, the trio figure that the Killing Curse had done to the locket what it did to a living victim; the removal of the soul. Having a way to destroy the Horcruxes and a collection of books on spellcraft left by Harry's ancestors, lifted their mood considerably._

 _It was night time and the trio were asleep. While Luna and Hermione slept soundly, Harry was plagued by nightmares. Or something worse._

 _Harry saw a man screaming, his form writhing on the marble floor. A wand of pale wood, resembling bone, pointed at the man. Harry knew the wand; the wand that killed so many, the twin of his own. The screaming lessened as the cold voice of Tom Riddle, the self-styled Lord Voldemort spoke._

" _You certainly did not lack ambition," Riddle spoke, "and killing Mudbloods and Blood traitors does bring us closer to our goals, but you made two mistakes."_

" _My Lord," the man began to speak before he was sent into screaming torment at the end of Riddle's wand._

" _You will not speak," Riddle said after releasing the Cruciatus. "You're first mistake was trying to kill Potter. He is mine to kill."_

 _Another application of the Cruciatus followed that statement, during which Harry realized who was being tortured. It was one of the Snatchers they had fought two months prior._

 _The torture came to another pause._ _"_ _You're second mistake was was destroying one of my Horcrux. At least there is a way for you to compensate for that."_

 _As he spoke, Riddle looked up, allowing Harry to see some type of p_ _edestal_ _behind the former Snatcher._ _An object rested upon it, however the room was too dark to make out what it was._

 _Harry, with growing dread, realized what was happening. That man had cost Riddle a Horcrux, so he was the sacrifice to make a new one._

 _Harry could only watch helplessly as Riddle returned his attention to his sacrifice. The man's face was a mask of pain and fear and his body shock from the after effects of the Cruciatus Curse, as the pale wand lit up with sickly green radiance, "Avada Kedavra."_

 _The killing curse struck and the man became still. The_ _n_ _there was a rush of magic; cold, like diving into the Black Lake in February,_ _and feeling completely wrong. It felt slimy, like a thousand worms were crawling all over and inside of him. A black, greasy smoke rose from Riddle's body_ _and flowed into whatever was on the pedestal._

" _Harry, Harry wake up!"_

 _Harry's eyes snapped open, above him was Hermione and Luna, both bore looks of fear and worry._

 _Hermione and Luna helped him sit up, he felt like he had been through a marathon Quidditch match. Both girls held him tightly, something both had_ _begun_ _to to do, though never at the same time._

" _Harry, was it a vision," Hermione questioned._

" _Yea," Harry responded, his throat dry, "it was. Riddle was..." He stopped as the full weight of what he had witnessed hit him._

" _Harry," Luna pleaded, "what happened?"_

" _Riddle made another Horcrux," Harry said, anger and despair building in his voice. "He knows we had one when the Snatchers tried to get us and it was destroyed. He killed one of them to make a new one. I didn't see what it was."_

 _Harry pulled himself from his companions' grasps and rose from the bed. "How can we beat him now? He's got another Horcrux and he won't let out of his sight!" He paced the room, one hand in his hair, the palm covering his scar. "There's not going to be an end, is there?"_

 _Harry's rant was cut off by Luna and Hermione enveloping him in a hug. "We'll keep going," Luna whispered, "we have to."_

" _He can't just keep make new Horcruxes," Hermione said, "it's just another item on our list to find and destroy."_

 _Harry calmed down at their words and actions. They did have a way at calming him. They returned to the bed, still hugging. "Ok," Harry began, "where do we go from here?"_

" _I think we need to break Riddle's power base," Hermione answered. "There have to be plenty of people who want to fight against him, but he has to many on his side. If we remove them, Riddle's just one man. One messed up person. Maybe one of the books here have some knowledge on Horcruxes we can use against him."_

" _Plus, taking down Riddle's subordinates gives us more opportunities to see if they have been entrusted with a Horcrux," Luna added._

" _Right, it's a plan."_

 _Flashback end_

Harry's reminiscences was broken by a loud splash. Outside, the giant squid had brought it's tentacles down upon the lake's surface. ' _Not the time to get caught up in the past, or future,_ ' he thought ruefully, ' _I have a meeting to get to._ '

(line break)

Harry stopped just short of Professor McGonagall's office. He took a moment to calm his thoughts. He had to go in there as a twelve year old student concerned about his future education rather than a twenty seven war veteran. His mind in order, he made his way the last few meters to the office door and knocked.

"Enter," came the voice of Hogwarts's Transfiguration teacher, Head of Gryffindor and Deputy Headmistress. Harry entered the office and spied McGonagall at her desk.

"Mister Potter, what an unexpected surprise. To what so I owe this meeting," McGonagall asked setting aside the papers she had on her desk.

"Well Professor," Harry began, hoping he sounded twelve, " I was wondering if it would be possible to change one one of my electives for next year."

"Of course you can, Mister Potter," McGonagall said as she, with a flick of her wand, summoned a folder from one of the shelves behind her. The folder read ' _Potter, Harry J._ ' "What course would you like to drop and what do you want to replace it with?"

Harry let some of the tension out of his shoulders before he responded. " I would like to drop Divination and take Study of Ancient Runes."

Professor McGonagall made the adjustments in Harry's folder before she regarded Harry with sharp eyes. "Any particular reason for this change, Mister Potter?"

' _I don't want to hear my imminent demise is approaching every day,_ ' Harry thought dryly. Shaking the sarcastic thoughts from his mind, he responded, "Professor, I just faced down a Basilisk a few days ago. If Fawkes and the Sorting Hat hadn't shown up, I'd be dead, Ginny would be dead and Voldemort _(McGonagall shuddered)_ would be back with a deadly monster under his control. I don't think knowing that something _might_ happen is going to help me when something goes bad. And with my record, it's going to happen."

McGonagall considered his reasoning. "I can understand your point, though I wish you didn't feel you had to rush into danger every year" She paused before continuing, "I take it that you did some research into what studying Ancient Runes will entail."

Harry smiled. He hadn't looked up the subject so much as learning it on the fly, but she didn't need to know that. "Yes, I did after I saw some interesting markings on Gryffindor's sword. I guessed they were runes and I wanted to know more about them. They're what made the sword magic, right?"

McGonagall sighed. On one hand she was glad that a student, one she wanted to excel, was taking a more active interest in his studies. On the other, he seemed to not grasp the full depth of things.

"Yes, the runes of the sword do contribute to it's magic properties. Runes help to bind magic to an object, though that is 5th year subject matter."

"Oh," Harry said, hoping he captured a disappointed 12 year old with his crestfallen look. McGonagall gave no indication it had failed. "Well, it still looked interesting."

"I am glad you are taking more interest in your studies, Mister Potter. Your mother did quite well in Runes and I wish you the best of luck in your studies."

"Thank you, Professor. I'm glad I looked into runes. Divination sounds a bit dodgy."

With that last though, Harry excused himself from McGonagall's office, leaving the Transfiguration teacher with a feeling that she somehow failed her students.

* * *

The Hogwarts Library held an extensive collection of books on many subjects: Spells, potions, Magizoology, the list goes on. Among those countless books were a far fewer books on Wizarding England's laws and government than Hermione had hoped for.

She had the tomes she found set out upon the table she had commandeered. Bookworm she may have been, the prospect of digging though the legal code did not appeal to her. Squaring her shoulders, she opened the first book, " _Laws of 20_ _th_ _Century Briton"_ and started to read.

A few hours, and books, later, Hermione groaned. Nothing in _"Laws of the 20_ _th_ _Century", "Legal Code of Wizarding England" or "History of Wizengamot Cases"_ had given her any idea any ideas on clearing Sirius' name. She did find that many of the laws the passed in the early years of the Ministry were never repelled or negated by later laws. None were overly horrible, but it showed just how ineffective the Ministry was.

After rubbing her eyes and wondering where her lovers were, if nothing more that just for company, she picked up the next book, " _A History of the Wizard's Council." 'If the Ministry still has laws from the 1700s active, maybe something from it's predecessor can help.'_

The book was a basic collection of how the Council operated, how laws were introduced, implemented and enforced. A lot of the structure of the council was reflected in the modern Ministry, such as a group of enforcers, called Wardens, functioned like Aurors and Hit was almost ready to give this book up when she spied an interesting passage.

It read: _"In some cases, mostly involving one or more of the Noble Houses (refer to the Pure-Blood Directory for more information), a duel could be called to stands in for a regular trial. Such a duel was called_ _ **Juris Magi,**_ _or Justice of the Mage. In most cases, the wronged party would, in the presents of the party that wronged them and at least three witnesses of good repute, call the challenge. The duel would occur at at the time and location of the challenger, with a neutral party officiating. The challenged party can have a second stand in for them, while the challenger is required to fight for themselves._

The book then gave several examples of _Juris Magi_ duels through the history of the Council. In almost every case, the challenger called the duel because the Council's legal system was heavily stacked against them. And while Hermione found the idea of simply fighting to avoid the law, in Sirius' case, it was perfect.

Hermione set about to find if duel law was carried over into the Ministry and if it was still an active law. If they didn't have any other options, then Sirius would have to put his wand where his mouth was.

* * *

Luna skipped her way towards Professor Flitwick's office on the seventh floor. If all went according to plan, next year and all subsequent years would be far more interesting. Upon reaching her Head of House's office, she knocked thrice. A muffled, "Come in" was heard and she entered.

The diminutive part goblin professor was cleaning his office; several feather dusters were moving across the numerous bookcases as the professor himself was polishing his desk, facing away from the door. A turned, a wide smile on his face.

"Ah, Miss Lovegood, you've caught me in a cleaning mood. Never get time to do so around this time of year, exams and all. How may I help you?"

"Well Professor," Luna began, her plan unfolding quite well, "I was wondering if I could take my exam?"

Flitwick was surprised at this. He hadn't expected any students, even his Ravenclaws, to want to take an exam. Well except maybe Miss Granger. "Why do you want to take it? Most of your peers seemed quite happy to forgo them this year."

"Well, not taking them after all that studying seems like a waste, doesn't Professor."

Flitwick nodded. He could see the logic behind it. "I don't see the harm," he told her, smiling as a smile broke out on her face. He went to his files and pulled out a 1st year exam.

Luna had already taken a seat at one of the desks in the room, quill in hand. Flitwick smiled at her eagerness, seeing students with such a want to learn always warmed his heart.

"I won't see a time limit, Miss Lovegood," he instructed his student, " just do your best. If you want after we can do the practical portion."

"Thank you Professor," Luna said and got to work. Flitwick figures that it would take her about thirty minutes before she would finish. Fifteen minutes later, Luna pipped up, "Professor, I'm finished." Flitwick looked at her, a bit of astonishment on his face. He took her paper and reviewed it. His Charms exams were quite straight forward. Proper incantations and wand movements, where certain charms were applicable and their limits, and so on and so forth.

Her work was impeccable. Every description of wand moment was detailed to perfection. Every incantation spelled correctly, with proper pronunciation. He was quite impressed.

"I say Miss Lovegood," he said after he doubled checked work, "you should be proud. I haven't seen someone complete my exam so quickly, and so correctly, in some time. I take you want to try the practical portion?"

Luna nodded, and the practical was underway. After making a pineapple dance across the desk, Flitwick beamed at his pupil. "Marvelous work, Miss Lovegood. Full marks. I'd give you an Outstanding all around."

"Thank you Professor," Luna said, ready to start part two of her plan, " I did study very hard. I was hoping that the tickling charm would have been on the test. It's quite a fun spell."

Flitwick frowned at that. The Tickling Charm was a 2nd year spell. "Miss Lovegood, that's a second year spell. Where did you learn it."

"Oh, I found a room with a lot of old school books. They looked interesting so I read them all. I didn't know they were advanced books."

Flitwick considered what she said. While some students did try to excel and learn spells above their year, it sounder like she had read books across the whole school curriculum, or at least the core subjects. ' _I suppose it couldn't hurt.'_

"Miss Lovegood, do you want to try your hand at the second year Charms exam?"

Luna smiled, ' _All according to plan._ ' "I would to try Professor."

Thirty-five minutes later, Luna had finished both the written and practical portions of the second year exam. Flitwick found her knowledge and skill in second year material to be well in passing range, though there were some minor mistakes.

"How did I do, Professor?"

"Very good, Miss Lovegood, very good," the part goblin said. "I'd say you'd do well in third year if these results are any indication."

' _Hook, Line and Fish or whatever the saying is,_ ' Luna thought. "Professor, would it be possible to take the exams in the other classes?"

"You want to take all of the exams?"

"Oh yes," Luna said dreamily, "next year would be very boring if I knew everything already."

"I can see your point, Miss Lovegood," Flitwick said, "But are you sure you want to? What about your friends?"

Luna didn't have to pretend to look saddened. She didn't want to play on Flitwick's good nature, but she had a goal to get to. "I really don't have any friends. Padma Patil sometimes says hello though."

Flitwick frowned at that. Ravenclaw may not have been Hufflepuff but to think that someone would have no friends at all was troubling. Miss Lovegood was an interesting young girl, he would not deny that she was odd, but that was not excuses to ignore someone.

And if she wanted to jump a year ahead, could he deny her some degree of happiness?

"I'll have to confer with the other professors and the Headmaster, but if you can pass the exams, and no school rules forbid it, I think you can count yourself a third year, Miss Lovegood."

Luna's face broke into a broad smile. She did like it what a plan came to fruition.

* * *

Harry left Professor McGonagall's office feeling rather good. He'd gotten out of Divination, into Ancient Runes, and had managed to convince a teacher that he was just twelve year Harry. It was a good 1st day back.

' _Now I guess I should go help Hermione with looking into Sirius' case. The things I do for love._ ' Just as Harry made his way to the third floor a voice called out, "Harry!"

Harry turned towards the voice and saw Colin Creevey running up the hall. Harry found himself fighting with himself over how to respond to Colin. The part of him that was still a kid remembered how annoying he was, with his constant picture taking. The older part, however knew that Colin had always supported him, and being a Muggle-born meant he could have died in the future, filling him with guilt.

Guilt won out, "Hi, Colin. How are you feeling?"

"Great Harry," Colin panted, he'd obviously ran quite a bit to find him. "I've, got a message, for you, from Professor Dumbledore. He said, he wants to see him in his office, and remember that he fancies Mars Bars."

Harry groaned internally. ' _Not even a day. Back a day and he's sticking his crooked nose into my life._ ' "Thanks, Colin. Guess I'll go see him."

"Ok Harry, bye!" Colin waved him off.

As Harry made his way towards the gargoyle statue that hid the Headmaster's office, his mind a storm. ' _Calm down, Harry. He can't know we traveled back in time._ _There's some other reason he wants to see me, he didn't last time._ ' Whatever that was escaped Harry for the moment and he put it out of his mind.

His mind was what he needed to be worried about. Dumbledore was a master Legilimens. He was sure that the old bastard wouldn't hesitate to scan his surface thoughts. And that was a problem. Twelve year old Harry shouldn't have Occlumancy shields at his age. Though calling Harry's mental defense a shield was a stretch. It was less a barrier and more a mine field. His impressive skill in outward mental magic left him with little skill in the defensive side of the art. So he turned offense to defense.

Anyone trying to get into his mind ran the risk of hitting a mine. Not only would it hurt something fierce, but it would give Harry the opening to counter attack. But such an option was not available to deal with Dumbledore. He needed subtlety not ordinance.

Harry retreated into his mind and began to make a scarecrow. The scarecrow was the perfect was to fool Albus Dumbledore. Born out of whatever Harry needed it to think, the scarecrow would shield his true mind while it was open to attack. And being born of his mind and memories meant it was indistinguishable from him.

Mind scarecrow in place, Harry steered his body to the gargoyle and said "Mars bars." The gargoyle moved, revealing a set of stairs. "Time to see the wizard," he said as he knocked on the door.

(Line Break)

 **And cliffhanger. Sorry about that. I wanted too get to the Dumbledore meeting but my Muse was set on the flashback. What do you all think about Luna's plan to get into Harry and Hermione's year? Or Hermione's findings on the legal front.**

 **Review please. I'm rather hungry.**


	5. Puppet Dance

**Thank you everyone who has graced this humble fic with your time and kind words. We're almost at 10,000 views.**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I gaining any monetary gain from this story.

On with the Show!

* * *

Ch 5: Puppet Dance

The past few days had gone rather well for one Albus Dumbledore. He had been reinstated as Headmaster, a danger to the school had been dealt with, a troublesome School Governor had been removed, and best of all, Harry Potter had risen to the occasion and bested an echo of Tom Riddle. Though if Albus was being honest with himself, that echo was troubling. There were not many magics that enabled a fully aware being to exist; even fewer that effectively made an exact copy of a person's mind.

He pushed those thoughts away for the moment; it would be some time still before Tom recovered from his loss the year prior. For now, he had other tasks to attend to. He had his pawns to reward. The youngest Weasleys played their parts quite well, even if Miss Ginerva did not fully understand her part yet. ' _Yes, they'll need some form of compensation.'_

His gaze fell upon the morning's _Daily Prophet_ and an idea formed. ' _The_ _Prophet is running a lottery, isn't it?_ _7_ _00 Galleons is a most generous reward. I'll nip over to their offices once the term ends and see to their victory.'_

With the little detail of payment out of the way, Albus thought ahead to the next year. There were no major events happening that he could foresee, nor portends of Dark activity to prepare for. Of course there was the yearly need for a Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. The candidate pool was somewhat small, given the post's reputation.

In fact, this year's appointment only went to Lockhart because his only competition had been Remus Lupin, whose shabby countenance had not impressed the Governors. ' _There's an idea,_ ' Dumbledore thought, ' _Remus has always been a loyal one. And the prospect of meet_ _ing Harry will seem like a reward to him. I'll have to tell Severus to remain at least somewhat civil._ '

His thoughts concerning how to manipulate the mild mannered werewolf to further his hold on Harry Potter were interrupted when a small alarm sounded. Looking over to the cabinet where the item was sounding, he frowned. The cabinet was where all the monitoring equipment tied to Harry were housed. One of them sounding an alarm was concerning.

Only the tune of the alarm kept him from panicking. Each tracker had a different sound enchanted on it. This sound was not one connected to Harry's health or the wards at Number 4, but rather an indication that something had been changed about Harry's school record. A bit paranoid on his part, but Albus preferred to know as much as he could on anyone he needed.

A quick wave of his wand silenced the noise, and summoned a folder from the cabinet. A Protean charm on the record kept in McGonagall's office would reflect on his copy whatever had changed. A quick glanced showed what had happened. ' _He switched from Divination to Ancient Runes?_ _Why?_ ' He needed him to believe that the Prophecy was real, so he could steer him towards the endgame. Both Weasley and Granger were taking the class, so why did he switch? He'd need to call him in to see why and figure out how to proceed. And it had been such a good morning.

* * *

Harry entered the Headmaster's office, working to keep his breathing steady. The scarecrow was not a hard thing to maintain, but it came at a cost. While he held it, he couldn't cast spells. The disconnect between his mind and the scarecrow made his magic completely unresponsive and it took a few seconds after the mental doppelganger was dispelled to reconnect. And now he was walking into the proverbial lions den; he had reason to be a bit cautious.

Nothing in Dumbledore's countenance gave away what this meeting was about, only heightening Harry's wariness.

"Hello Professor," Harry said calmly, better to be diplomatic than argumentative, until he found out why he was here. "You wanted to see me?"

"Yes Harry, come in, take a seat" Dumbledore said with a smile, "Lemon Drop?"

Harry's eyes flickered to the candy bowl on the desk. Paranoia wouldn't let his take one; no telling if Dumbledore had them charmed or potioned. "No thank you sir," Harry replied as he took a seat.

Dumbledore regarded Harry for a moment before he began, "How have you been, Harry?"

Harry couldn't remember any time Dumbledore had seemed concerned about his well being; well not without a secondary goal involved. ' _Wonder what his real reason for meeting me is?_ '

"I've been fine sir. Spent some time with Hermione before she went to the Library to catch up on her school work."

"And how are you are you enjoying my end of year treat," Dumbledore asked.

' _What's your goal here, you old bastard._ ' "Just fine sir. I was thinking of going for a fly later," Harry responded, debating on whether to let some choice thoughts to play thought the scarecrow to draw out a reaction from Dumbledore.

"Oh, yes the weather is quite good for flying isn't it," Dumbledore said, and just as Harry was wondering if this meeting was just the Headmaster checking in on his well-being, he felt his scarecrow shift.

It was a subtle thing; a light touch and soft whisper, encouraging him to talk about his day. ' _So that'_ _s your plan,_ ' Harry thought. It was a brilliant strategy; why dig for information when you can make someone want to tell you? It also meant two things: one, Dumbledore already knew he had changed classes, and two, he was capable of casting compulsions. ' _We're going to need to be more careful._ '

Deciding it was better to play along, Harry spoke, "Professor, what do you think of the study of Ancient Runes?"

"It is a very useful field. Many things about the past is written in runes, and the symbols themselves carry power. Are you thinking of taking Study of Ancient Runes next year, Harry?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, sir. I spoke with Professor McGonagall this morning about dropping Divination for Ancient Runes." ' _Not that you didn't already know that._ '

Dumbledore regarded Harry for a moment as if he was weighting his options, before he spoke, "Any particular reason you felt like dropping Divination instead of taking three electives? I believe you would be more than capable to handle the workload."

"I just don't think Divination will help me later on. Voldemort's out there somewhere and he'll want to kill me more after last year. All Divination can help me do is maybe hide from him. I don't want to hide. Didn't help last time."

Harry would let Dumbledore believe he meant his parents in 1981. Hiding while they recovered from their injuries gave Riddle to much of a lead on his plans. And soon it was better to hit and run than stand and fight.

Harry continued, "And it's like you said, Professor, knowing about runes will help me do a lot of things in the future. Going into tombs and ruins sounds exciting. Maybe I'll go back to the Chamber and explore it..."

Harry never got to finish his statement as a cool pressure enclosed his mind. He hadn't seen Dumbledore move, but there was no doubt about what was going on. Dumbledore rose from his seat, and walked out from behind it, his drawn wand never breaking connection with Harry.

Harry watched Dumbledore from behind half-lidded eyes. The spell that held him was akin to the Stunning Spell; only instead of rendering him unconscious, it only suppressed his conscious mind. He was still awake, only unable to think or act. Or he would be if his scarecrow wasn't the one ensnared.

Dumbledore looked as if he was contemplating what course of action to take. A quick sensation of pressure told Harry the scarecrow's mind was being dug through. Dumbledore remained silent until he made a jabbing motion with his wand " _Compulsio._ "

Harry felt the spell take hold on his mental double. He didn't know what kind of compulsion Dumbledore was weaving, and he didn't have time study it as after the spell finalized it's hold, Dumbledore followed it with a quick " _Obliviate_ ," modifying the memory of the scarecrow.

Dumbledore finished his spellwork with " _Imperio."_ Harry felt the telltale signs of the mind control spell set in as Dumbledore's voice echoed in his mind. ' _Return to your dorm room. Take a nap. Tell anyone who asks that you feel tired._ _'_

* * *

Harry did as the spell dictated and left the headmaster's office while Dumbledore shook his head. ' _It's a good thing I needed to see his reasoning for switching classes. Having him entertain ideas of exploring the Chamber could spell disaster.'_ There was no telling what lay in the Chamber, what may have been left there by it's creator or his heir. It could prove a danger to Harry's well-being, or give him ideas.

' _I've let him remain in Runes. He needs to think he has some agency. Weasley and Granger are still taking Divination so they can reinforce the Prophecy's validity when the time comes._ ' Dumbledore let out a sigh. So much work to reach his goal. So many pieces to move and direct. ' _I think I need a little distraction._ '

No sooner did he think that did an origami bird come flying though his opened window. It landed upon his desk and unfolded, the creases fading away, leaving a perfectly pristine piece of parchment. The flowing hand of Filius Flitwick danced across it. Dumbledore gave it a quick read.

' _A first year passed Filius' second year exam and claims to be ready to do the same in her other courses. I can't recall if any student has ever skipped a grade._ ' A small smile grew on his lips. A small but suitable distraction. ' _If she can pass the second year exams I see no reason she can't be a third year next term._ ' With a flourish of a quill, he penned his response and the parchment returned to it's avian form to return to it's sender.

* * *

Harry stood in a large room, with high wooden walls covered in portraits. Some were of his ancestors; Linfred of Stinchcombe tended his garden, Hardwin and Iolanthe dressed in full wedding attire, and Fleamont and Euphemia holding a baby James. Others were of him, Luna and Hermione; some in their youth, some older. And still more were indistinct; blurry images of children with blonde, red, brown and black hair.

Harry tore his eyes from the portraits to address the younger version of himself that stood in the middle of the room. For this was not real; it was Harry's mindscape, his internal sanctuary modded after Potter Manor. And it was time to see what the honorable headmaster had tried to do to him.

Scarecrow Harry matched Harry's physical body perfectly and stood still at the center of the room. Wrapped around him were a number of silver threads. One set bound his hands, another had covered his eyes, setting his glasses askew. The rest snaked around him, not to tightly but enough to remain attached.

Soft words resounded from the threads, repeating the same phrase, ' _Forget about going into the Chamber._ ' As much as Harry hated Dumbledore for trying to bind him, he had to give the old bastard credit, he was good.

' _Binding the hands reduces the odds that I'd break out on my own, blocking the eyes increases the effect on the repeated phrase and all the other threads gives it redundancy i_ _f_ _somehow I tried to break it._ '

Harry made a circuit around his bound double, watching the threads pulse. The magic of the spell was visible here; their intent screaming at him. The easiest part to unravel was the compulsion. The other parts were not so easy to find. Harry completed four laps around himself before he found what he was looking for.

' _There's the fail-safe. Clever old man, hiding it within the mental image. Going to be hard to break it, and I can't risk him knowing I did, so I better isolate it._ '

Harry began to tear at the threads, the glowing silver fraying and fading at his hands. When he was finished, the threads were barely there, held by only a single hair-width piece in places. The repeating voice was quiet and garbled and the glow had dimmed to near nothing.

' _Right, that's done. Now to place the protection._ ' Harry stood back from his copy, and crossed his arm over his chest. He felt his magic flow around him as a blue glow formed around him. The glow wrapped around him like a cocoon.

His shield in place, Harry willed the scarecrow to fade and pulled the frayed spell onto himself. As the threads moved to encase him, the blue coating around him intercepted them, preventing them from truly holding him. Satisfied that the shield would hold, Harry willed himself awake.

* * *

Harry opened his eyes and took in the sight of the roof of his bed. His head throbbed; all the mental magic he'd done and been the target of had left him with a headache. The small clock on the wall showed that he had been sleeping for some time; it was nearly three.

' _Hermione's going to be cross,_ ' Harry thought as he left the dorm room. A quick check of his Map showed Hermione was still in the Library. When he looked for Luna, he found her somewhere he hadn't expected; Professor McGonagall's office, with said Professor, and Flitwick and Sprout, in attendance. Putting aside any thoughts on what his blonde lover was doing with three of the most important teachers at Hogwarts, Harry made haste to the Library.

Hermione's chosen table sat near the back of the cavernous expanse of books, far from the prying eyes of the school's librarian. As Harry approached the table his steps slowed at the amount of books crowding the table. Hermione peered around one of the towers she had made and shot him a cross look.

"Harry, so nice of you to join me, finally. I so enjoy slogging though legal texts all by myself."

Wincing, Harry gave Hermione a look that he hoped said 'sorry' and sat opposite her. "I was about 20 meters from the Library when I got an invite to see a certain meddling goat."

Hermione's expression shifted from angry to concerned. "What happened," she inquired, "why did he want to see you?"

"He found out I dropped Divination. I think he has my school files linked to something in his office. Protean Charm on the McGonagall's copy, I bet."

Harry took a moment to gather his thoughts. "He hit me with a compelling to want to talk to him about my day. If I hadn't been behind a scarecrow, I don't know if I would have felt it until it was too late."

Hermione felt a chill go down her spine. Harry's skill in the mind arts had been their saving grace many times, and to hear him say he was almost out classed scared her.

"What else happened," she questioned, hoping that whatever Harry did to get out of the headmaster's office had mislead him.

"Well after I told him what I did with Professor McGonagall, and insinuating that I wanted to go back down to the Chamber at some point, he hit me with a mind stunner, worked in a compulsion to avoid thinking about the Chamber, modified my memory to think I left after telling him about the class switch and hit me with an Imperius to have a lie down."

"Well at least he didn't see past the scarecrow," Hermione acknowledged.

Harry gave a tight smirk, "Yeah, at least there's that. He's not all powerful and he still thinks we're kids. We've got the best cover."

Needing a change in topic, Harry waved a hand at the small city Hermione had gathered, "How are things on your end?"

Hermione frowned, "Not so promising. Most of these are decoys, breaking line of sight. There aren't that many books here on law and government."

"So we've got nothing to help Sirius?"

"No," Hermione stated, "I've found something that we can do, but I'd rather explain it after Luna finds us. You know where she is?"

Harry smirked and tapped a finger to his temple, "I can always know where she is. Right now she's leaving McGonagall's office."

"Why was she in McGonagall's office?"

"With Luna, it'll either be something grand or nonsensical, maybe both," Harry joked, before continuing in a serious tone, "When I checked before, she was still in McGonagall's office and Flitwick and Sprout were there too."

"Never a dull moment with Luna," Hermione noted, "not that we've have it any other way."

Harry nodded, his attention never leaving Luna. His internal sense followed her up two flights of stairs and through the door to the Library. Once she rounded the corner and headed down the aisle towards their table did he disengage his tracking.

Luna skipped her way to her lovers, stopping a few feet away. Making eye contact with Hermione, she asked, "Is that seat taken?"

Hermione let out a sigh. "Luna, I know you noticed the security spells I placed. You helped make them."

"I know. Asking was the polite thing to do." With that said, Luna sat down. Not in the free seat, but in Harry's lap.

Once Luna was safely secured by way of Harry's arms around her waist, she asked, "How have things gone for you two. Everything was perfectly for me."

"Well if you're in a telling mood, Harry and I wouldn't mind hearing about it. I know I'm curious why you were in McGonagall's office with most of the Heads of House," Hermione said.

Luna shot Harry a cute look, "I'm never going to be able to hide from you, am I?"

"Nope, and you're going to have to live with it," Harry said, tightening his hold on her.

"Oh well," Luna sighed as she snuggled closer to Harry, before she looked up at Hermione, "Oh, Hermione, I'm sorry. Wrackspruts must have me. Would you like to join us? I'll have to transfigure the chair into something more comfy."

"Maybe later Luna," Hermione said with a smile. Some group cuddle time did sound like a good idea. "But first we have things to discuss."

"Let me fill Luna in on my day," Harry said as he placed his wand at his temple. A sliver strand hung to the end as he pulled it away. He placed the wand on Luna's temple and the strand of memory entered her mind.

Luna frowned as she absorbed the memory. "He's not going to let us be, is he?"

"Nope," Harry said, "at least he thinks we're kids. Gives us the element of surprise."

"Speaking of surprises, can I go first," Luna asked, excitement evident in her voice.

Seeing Harry and Hermione nod, she continued, "Well, my loves, you two are going to be seeing more of me next year. Particularly in Runes and CoMC."

It took Harry and Hermione a moment to figure out what Luna was saying. "You mean," Hermione said, "you're skipping your 2nd year?"

"Yep, this way we can take classes together and become 'friendly' with each other without people getting suspicious."

"Is that why you were in McGonagall's office earlier," Harry asked.

Luna nodded. " After I passed Professor Flitwick's exams, he went to see her. I don't know what he said to her, but then I was taking her exams. After I passed them, I took a DaDA exam McGonagall had in her files, while she sent notes to the other teachers. After they said yes, I took their tests."

"Snape said yes to letting you try to skip a year," Harry asked, shocked the hated Potion Master would do something like that.

"He didn't. I took some older tests. I think they were Slughorn's. Flitwick said he'd talk with the headmaster about the whole thing and he said yes."

"Well that's _one_ good thing that old goat has done," Harry grumbled.

Luna nodded, "Now enough about me. Hermione, did you find anything that'll will help Sirius?"

Hermione held back a groan. "Not so much. Most of the normal avenues are too easy for anyone against Sirius to manipulate and publicly revealing Wormtail could end up with us losing the rat without clearing Sirius. They'll want to keep that out of the public."

She paused, gathering her thoughts. "What I did find is that the Ministry doesn't do a good job as cleaning up its law book. There are laws active that go all the way back to the 16th century. Which is where this one comes from."

She slid ' _A History of the Wizard's Council_ _'_ over to them, the page on the _**Juris Magi**_ open. Harry and Luna took a minute to read the passage before Harry shot Hermione a disbelieving look.

"You want Sirius to duel for his freedom?"

"It's they only thing I've found that the Minister couldn't just block. Sirius is the head of one of the oldest families in Briton held illegally. This thing was made for him."

Harry frowned. "But Sirius isn't the head of the Blacks. He was disowned, remember?"

"Then how did he have full access to Number 12? And how was he able to make Kreacher obey him if he wasn't the head of the household."

Hermione's points made sense. "So what, his mother blasted him off the family tree, but never made it official," Harry wondered.

"Or maybe someone else intervened," Luna supplied, "Maybe Sirius' father or grandfather kept him in as a backup."

"We can ask Sirius after we get his somewhere safe," Hermione said, "And I'll keep looking into alternative options. But we'll go with the duel as the primary plan."

The trio sat in silence for a while, digesting all the information they had gathered that day. It was Harry that broke the silence. His encounter with Dumbledore had shaken something loose; a query he had forgotten, or made to forget.

"Would either of you two lovely ladies care to join me in the Chamber of Secrets?"

* * *

 **And cut! It took me far longer than I wanted to but my Muse must be psychic, as I got my grove back right as JKR released that history of the Potter Family. So if you haven't read it, the portraits in Harry's mindscape are honest to Rowling canon. And Harry grandfather's was named Fleamont. Wizards are weird. Next time, we go down to Slytherin's Chamber. What Secrets will we find?**

 **Review please!**


	6. The Chamber's Secret

**Hey everyone. Sorry for taking so long. Life caught me and dragged me around a bit. But I'm back in the saddle, or comfy chair really, ready to write. On with the show!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor am I gaining any monetary gain from this story.

* * *

Ch 6: The Chamber's Secrets

Deciding that skipping dinner would arouse suspicion, and, according to Luna, "You should never go on an expedition on an empty stomach", the threesome met up at the Room of Requirement as curfew drew near. Luna had arrived first and set the Room. When Harry and Hermione entered the Room, they were met what looked like a base camp. A base camp in the anti-chamber of a temple, with a number of tents flying a deep blue flag featuring a golden hippogriff.

Harry and Hermione shared a look, smiles blossoming on their faces. "Leave to our Luna to get us in the proper mood," Harry said taking in the scene.

Luna herself strode out of the largest tent, dressed not in explorer garb, but in her everyday clothes.

"I would have thought you'd have taken the opportunity to dress for the occasion, Luna," Hermione said. Gesturing at the surroundings, she continued, "You certainly went all out for the aesthetic."

Luna regarded Hermione with an even stare, "This is a serious endeavor Hermione, no time for dress up. We can play later." She paused and she glanced down at her body, "Much later, it would seem," she concluded in a slightly resigned voice.

Not being one who could stand seeing his loves in a saddened state, Harry pipped up, "I think I have a way around our, physical limitations, but we can talk about that later. Luna, I'm guessing your idea worked?"

Luna nodded, a smile forming on her face. Before they had left the Library, Luna had suggested using the Room to forge a passage to at least Myrtle's bathroom, if not the Chamber itself. With a small thought a doorway materialized on the formerly black stone wall at the back of the anti-chamber.

"I wasn't able to make a door to the Chamber, but that was always an outside chance." Luna waved a hand at the door as she continued, "This door leads to the bathroom."

Hermione had walked to the door and traced it lightly. "I guess the Chamber's warded, or whoever made the Room didn't know about it. Most likely both. I'd love to figure out how this place works."

"Something to look forward to," Harry said as he and Luna walked up beside her. "Now, shall we?"

* * *

The Girl's bathroom on the 2nd floor had never been one with a high amount of traffic. The presents of its resident ghost notwithstanding, its location made it rather inconvenient outside of the time between classes. No rooms on the floor held any permanent club space, and none of the common rooms were situated nearby. So between the poor placement and its permanent resident, no one was around to see a door manifest out of the solid wall and Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood walk though it.

Harry check the room and the surrounding corridor with his still unnamed gift. "Looks like Myrtle's gone out. At least we won't have to explain ourselves."

Harry made his way to the nonfunctional sink. The first time he opened the Chamber he had to pretend a small snake carved on the faucet was real to simulate his Parseltongue. Now all he had to do was think ' _speak snake_ ' and he was good to go.

" _Open_ ," he hissed and he stood back as the sinks rearranged to formed the passage to the Chamber of Secrets. Peering down the hole into the abyss he wondered if he could adjust the slide into a more convent path down.

" _Stairs_ _,_ " he hissed and a deep groaning echoed though the bathroom as the earthen slide reshaped itself into a set of stairs. "Well," he said turning his head back towards Hermione and Luna, who were busy establishing wards over the bathroom, "at least we won't have to slide down in filth."

"But that sounded like so much fun," Luna said as she finished her part of the ward, joining Harry to look down the hole.

Hermione join them soon after. "Wards are up but they won't last long. The school's innate magic is putting extra stress on them and we can't make stronger ones without risking alerting anyone."

"They'll have to do," Harry said, "No one saw us come here and we really only have to worry about Myrtle showing up. I've got the Cloak so when we leave we use it."

"Once more into the breach," Luna said in a sing song voice.

"I think I'm the only one here who can say that," Harry retorted as the trio stepped into the passageway.

"Details," Luna voice echoed out of the passage into the empty bathroom.

(Line)

After clearing away the leftover debris from the earlier collapses, the time traveling trio trekked into the water filled Chamber, where the stone face of Salazar Slytherin gazed at the corpse of his basilisk. Luna went up to the giant reptile, running her hand over the cold scales.

' _S_ _uch_ _a magnificent_ _creature_ _and would be a pity to just lie here and rot_ '. "If we find nothing else here," Luna said, her voice bouncing off the walls of the Chamber, "we can at least make use of the basilisk. Its hide and blood will bring in a fair amount of money."

"You know someone who can process it," Harry asked, wondering how such a task would be done on a corpse as large as the basilisk, "And how would they get here?"

"The Room may be able to open a way to somewhere outside the school," Hermione theorized, "and if it can't we'd have to set up a portkey that could get around the school's wards."

"And wouldn't that be illegal," Luna quipped, shooting Hermione a knowing glance.

"As if whoever you have in mind to harvest the Basilisk isn't someone who has no issue working outside of the law," Hermione shot back, a small smirk gracing her face.

"Point to Hermione," Harry chimed in. As fun as Hermione and Luna's verbal spars were, they had things to do. He made his way to the visage of Salazar Slytherin, the great stone face gazing impassively at the flooded chamber.

" _Open in the name of Slytherin, Greatest of the Hogwarts Four_ ," Harry spoke, and the mouth of the stone bust opened. The space beyond the open mouth was pitch black, and Harry cast a Bluebell charm into the void.

The space beyond the mouth was large, and apart from the remains of whatever the Basilisk ate and it's discarded skin, was depressingly empty.

"At least it's dry," Luna noted as she cast her gaze and wand around the cavernous room, looking for anything that would make this venture worthwhile, aside from whatever profit they could gain form the Basilisk.

"This doesn't make any sense," Harry muttered, "There has to be something here. Slytherin wouldn't build something like this just to hide a giant snake. It's called the Chamber of _**Secrets**_ for Merlin's sake."

Hermione, like her lovers, was sweeping the room, though something was bothering her. Not the emptiness, though that was distressing, but a nagging feeling that tickled at the back of her head. She stopped suddenly at a nondescript section of wall perhaps to twenty feet to the left of the opening to the room.

Here the feeling was strongest, and the beginnings of a dizzy spell began to settle upon her. Remembering what happened in the Hospital Wing earlier Hermione embraced the feeling, and in a rush the chamber changed.

 _The blue glow caused by Harry's Bluebell was replaced by the light a countless candle-like flames floating near the stone ceiling. The floor was not littered with old snake skin or discarded skin, though a still living, smaller, basilisk lay coiled to the right of where the doorway stood, opposite of where she stood. The passage opened and a man walked into the room, ranting._

" _How can those fools be so blind," the man exclaimed. He was bald, with a beard of silver coming to a point just above a golden locket_ _hanging from his neck. There was_ _no mistaking who the man was._

 _Salazar Slytherin continued to pace around the room, "I've warned them so many times._ _They can't be trusted; they've proven that time and time over. But that idyllic buffoon can't see it. And worst he_ _has_ _convinced Helga and Rowena that his stupidity_ _is_ _the correct path."_

 _He stopped his pacing and took a deep breath._ _"Then perhaps it is time for me to take my leave."_ _With that said, he approached the spot of wall Hermione stood in front of. Slytherin placed his hand upon the wall and spoke in Parseltongue. The section of wall began to ripple as of made of water before if fell away, revealing a new room. Slytherin strode in…._

Hermione jerked back as the vision fell apart and she was standing in the blue illuminated empty chamber, Harry and Luna still making their way along the room's perimeter.

Hermione waved them over. "I just had a vision," she told them, "I saw Slytherin and he had a hidden room right behind this part of the wall."

Harry frowned, "Why didn't I think to use my gift to check if there was anything around." He did just that and his frown deepened. "I'm not sensing anything."

"Are you doubting me, Harry," Hermione asked, her arms crossed.

"No, I'm not," Harry replied, "this is too important to lie about. But I wonder why I can't sense what's beyond the wall."

"It could be warded," Luna supplied, her mind working through the various possibilities, "but we can work on that problem later. Hermione, how do we get into this hidden room?"

"Slytherin placed his hand on the wall here," she demonstrated, "and he said a password in Parseltongue. Harry, care for a trip into the past?"

Harry nodded and quickly tread down the well worn path from his mind into Hermione's. He had done this so often, the freedom to converse without alerting enemies and the speed at which that conversation took place made the skill invaluable, that he could enter Hermione and Luna's mind with next to no effort. It made replaying Hermione's vision a piece of cake.

After withdrawing from Hermione's mind, Harry placed his hand upon the cold stone wall. Turning his head to his lovers he nodded as they raised their wands to the ready., moving to either side of him.

" _In the Name of Slytherin, by the Blood and by the Tongue, I bade you open,_ " Harry hissed and the wall under his hand melted away, just as it had in the vision. Beyond was darkness. No enchanted light burned into life to greet the time displaced threesome.

The shadows were deep, more akin to black water than the absences of light. As the trio stood at the precipice, each thinking of how to proceed, the darkness spilled out of the hidden room; a black tide, cold and unyielding crashed into them, robbing them of sight, sound and sensation.

* * *

Harry tired to hold himself against the shadowy force but to no avail. He was tossed about, helpless as a toy boat in a hurricane. He could sense nothing, not with his eyes or ears, his magic or his gift. Fear gripped him, all he could think about was Hermione and Luna. ' _Are they ok,_ ' ' _Where are they_ ,' ' _Please don't be dead_ ,' ' _I have to find them._ '

The thoughts came unbidden, and with them, memories dominated his mind. Battles fought in his past, from a future no long written, played in perfect clarity. Every injury Luna or Hermione suffered, from minor scratch to near death blows paraded through Harry's mind. Stabs of guilt accompanied every injury. ' _It's my fault they keep getting hurt,_ ' ' _If only I was better at protecting them,_ ' ' _Why does everyone I love die._ '

Memories gave way to a nightmare. A battlefield lay out in front of him, bodies as far as the eye could see. Some were formless, Death Eaters in full regalia. Others bore familiar faces. Friends, family allies lay among the dead. Harry's gaze moved ever forward, guilt and shame cutting him as well as any blade could.

And then he saw them. The loves of his life, set apart from the rest of the death. He stopped before them and fell to his knees, heavy tears fell and a cry of endless pain ripped from his throat. Some power compelled him to take in their lifeless forms. His eyes burned as he took in Luna's blonde hair, Hermione's uneven teeth….

' _Wait a minute;_ ' something clicked. Hermione didn't have uneven teeth. Well she did now, but not as an adult, which is how everyone in this killing field appeared.

' _This isn't real,_ ' Harry thought, his mind racing. He could feel it now, another presence, one trying to drown him in fear, guilt and angst. ' _The black water, it was a defense, a mental trap._ ' A trap he was more than capable of besting.

"Hermione has straight teeth, she and Luna fight not because I put them in harms way but because they want to stand with me, they are the best witches I could ever have the pleasure of knowing," Harry snarled out, each word thrumming with power. The world shook as Harry's will and magic pushed against it.

Harry gathered his magic, a wand forming in his hand. "And if you think I'm just going to let them die to some mental trap, you haven't seen anything!" With a slashing movement, Harry tore at the world, the field of death dispersing into a black sea. Harry remained about the dark waves, his will in pitched battle, moving against the dark endless ocean like the tide, pushing it away.

Sweat gathered upon Harry's brow as he pushed. The spell was as vast as the sea it appeared as. But he fought on; thoughts of Hermione and Luna, memories and dreams, fueled his magic. He felt the pressure of the great ocean begin to fall back and he threw everything he had at the receding magic.

A sharp lance of pure intent struck the insidious working, and the world around Harry changed. The sea turned to stone of deep gray and Harry found himself standing upon the surface, a look of pure shock gracing his face.

' _What is this,_ ' he pondered as he whirled around, looking for anything that would shed some light on what just happened. ' _The spell was breaking. I could feel it's hold shattering. The only thing that could stop that was…'_

"...Someone altering the spell," a voice supplied from behind Harry. It was smooth, if a bit arrogant, and seemed to carry far too much weight. And Harry recognized it. He had heard it only a few minutes ago.

He turned around sharply, wand raised, as he met the eyes of Salazar Slytherin. The Hogwarts Founder looked the same as he had in Hermione's vision, though now he held a wand at his side in a loose stance, ready to react should the need arise.

"What are you," Harry demanded of Slytherin, his eyes sweeping up and down the man, looking for any clue to this situation.

A small smile formed on Slytherin's face, "You are not even planing on entertaining the notion that I may be the true Salazar Slytherin?"

"I don't have the time," Harry responded, "I've got people I have to get back to."

"You need not worry about your lovers, Harry Potter," Slytherin said, causing Harry's eyes to widen, "they are in no danger as long as I am manifested here. The enchantment that has ensnared you three has limitations, and my being here has pushed the magic to it's limit."

"As for what I am: I am Slytherin. Everything the man was, I am."

Harry's mind flashed back to the events only a few days prior. 'You're a mental copy. You're part of the trap."

"Yes, though I am not a fragment of my creator's soul, so be at ease," the copy of Slytherin said.

"How do you know about that," Harry asked, his grip on his wand tightening. He did not like how much this facsimile knew.

Slytherin brought his off-hand towards his head and tapped a finger to his brow, "We are in your mind, and while your mental defenses are impressive, if a bit unorthodox, I am a true master of the Art. I know you come from a future where my descendent has brought the world to the breaking point. And how you were sent back with your lovers by Faerie magic."

Harry held back a gulp. He was not in a good position. Copy or not, this Slytherin knew everything about him, making fighting him a losing proposition. ' _I need to know more._ '

"So why did you show yourself?"

"It is part of what I was made for," Slytherin explained, "My maker build the Chamber for two purposes. One; to house the Basilisk to until the time came to defend the castle. And his intent was not to kill off, as you call them, Muggle-born students. He hated Muggles, that I will not deny, but he could find no difference in the magic of those to house with it and those without it."

"What about that scene Hermione saw in the Chamber. What was that about," Harry asked. He had nothing to gauge whether Slytherin was telling the truth but the feelings he was giving off. Reading them was a dubious art at the best of times, and it was better to read thoughts to determine truthfulness, but Harry did not want to run the risk of his mind being ripped apart by Slytherin's mental defense.

Slytherin sighed, his shoulders dropping slightly, "That was the last night he spent at Hogwarts and the night I came into this state. What he was angry at was his friends coming to the conclusion that it was better to return the Muggle-born students back to their families instead of keeping them at the school, where they would not run the risk of become victims of their bloody inquisitions. I know you had, many times wished you could remain at the castle instead of returning to your Uncle's and my descendant may have turned out better if he had been allowed to remain."

The notion that Salazar Slytherin was not a blood purist as most of his house believe him to be was something Harry would process later, as was the observations he had made about him and Riddle. "And the second reason for the Chamber?"

"The second reason was the Chamber would survive, so why not make it the resting place for his heirlooms, research, and writings," Slytherin supplied. "His original plan was to leave his daughter with the password to the inner sanctum, for her to pass it one to her heir and so on and so forth, until the chamber was uncovered. Only the most resourceful and driven could find the Chamber and take the final test."

"Final test," Harry inquired.

"You have already pasted the first part. The Waters of Torment were meant to drive your fears and regrets to break you, but as you saw they are not perfect. You saw the cracks in the spell and broke though. And I am here to give the final test, to see if you are worthy of being Salazar Slytherin's heir, my heir."

"I'm not related to you though," Harry said, and he had checked with the family trees at the Manor. Nothing indicated he was related to Slytherin.

"Not by blood but by deed. You have fought one of my blood both in the past and in the future now wiped away. You stopped him from using my Basilisk as a weapon against the students. Pass this last trial, and you will be my heir. The spells in the Chamber will recognize you as my chosen successor and champion."

"And what's the last trial," Harry asked ,though the fear gnawing him was already giving him a good idea of what was next.

With a near feral smile, Salazar Slytherin assumed a dueling stance, wand raised above his head.

"We duel. You win, the spell ends and the Chamber is open to you. You lose and you and your lovers will waste away as your minds drown in Torment."

* * *

 **And there we have it. A duel to the death. At least Slytherin's not a Sicilian. Will Harry prevail? Will he and his girls fall into the dark depths? Will I ever get to sound like the announcer fro Dragon Ball Z? Tune in next time to find out.**


	7. Duel of the Fates

**Hey everybody, how's everybody doing? Sorry I took so long with this, lost my muse, but I found it. Hope you not mad. So anyway, here's chapter seven. Enjoy.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

* * *

Ch 7: Duel of the Fates

Harry was no stranger to fighting for his life. His six years in school had seen him fight Dragons, Dementors, and Dark wizards; and his life afterwords had been near constant war. Still, dueling Salazar Slytherin, even a mental copy of the man, was a prospect he didn't think was favorable to him. Not that he had a choice in the matter.

There would be no countdown to start. This wasn't a duel; it was a fight of survival, one Harry needed to win.

Harry's wand arm lashed out as he shouted, " _Bombarda!"_ Salazar made no movement as a shielding spell formed in front of him, which would have blocked the blasting spell, if Harry had been aiming at him.

Instead the spell impacted the ground a foot in front of Slytherin, kicking up a large amount of debris. The shield intercepted said debris, but harry hadn't been aiming for hitting Slytherin. As soon as the cloud of dust blocked Slytherin's line of sight Harry ran.

' _I'm gonna need some cover,_ ' Harry thought; the vast, empty plain they were on was not conducive to his fighting method. ' _Guess it's time to change that._ '

Harry swept his wand over the ground and shouted, " _Lithos!"_ Gray stone pillars shot out of the ground at various angles, some over twenty feet to Harry's left and right and stretched thirty feet in front of him.

Harry ducked behind the nearest pillar, just in time to avoid a jet of dark purple spell-fire. Not wanting to give Slytherin the opportunity to simply blast down the pillar, Harry raised his wand to the sky and chanted " _Avis_ _gyrfalcon."_

With a loud bang, a cast of falcons, three dozen of them, shot forth from Harry's outstretched wand. They flew up over the stone pillars before moving to attack Slytherin. The visage of Slytherin looked impassively at the incoming flock, waiting until the birds of prey began their attack decent to raise his wand. With a firm bark of " _Evanesco_ ," the attacking flock vanished, leaving only disturbed air as proof of their existence.

While Slytherin had been preoccupied by the flock, brief as it may have been, Harry had made his way through the maze of pillars. ' _I know it was only a distraction, but he took them out way too quickly,'_ he lamented. With a quick reference of his gift, he knew Slytherin was making his way towards the pillars. His gait was calm, though his posture was alert.

' _He's confidant he can beat me,'_ Harry thought, ' _but not too much too take advantage of it. Dispelling all the birds with one Evanesco, well he certainly lives up to his reputation.'_ Knowing that Slytherin will find him sooner rather than later, Harry's mind raced to find some solution.

' _Fighting him head on is suicide. Even if he doesn't know any spells from the last 1000 years, which I can't be sure of since he's seen my memories, he does have more experience. And I can't use ambush tactics if I have to make new cover after every attack.'_

Harry's eyes widened as inspiration struck. The stone shaping spell he used early produced far more pillars than he had wanted. ' _If that spell made more because that's what I needed, then maybe…'_

What he was about to do was risky. The spell readied upon his lips was not meant to do this, but perhaps, it was the intent and what the spell meant to Harry that was the important part.

" _Arboris!"_

* * *

Potter Manor was the project of Ralston Potter. The then head of the family, holder of the famed Cloak of Invisibility, was well aware of how unpopular his options on Muggles were. Most of his colleagues in the Wizengamot were neutral on the matter, preferring the status quo, there were a sizable minority that advocated for war with the Muggles.

It was that faction which made Ralston nervous. Any party that openly wanted war could go to extreme lengthens to provoke it, even eliminating opponents to the position. And while he was confidant with his skill with a wand, a safe place for his family came above any notion of pride.

Deciding to return to his family's roots, so to speak, he elected to build this new manor near Stinchcombe, home of his ancestor Linfred. The nearby woods, The Forest of Dean, would serve as an excellent natural barrier to intruders, and would be better once he was done with his modifications.

The Potter line had many who were skilled in Herbology and Ralston was counted among them. It took him several months to lay the spells into the various plants in the wooded area surrounding the modest manor. When he was done, the plants could be moved to obscure the pathways through the woods, attack intruders that got past the more mundane repulsion charms, even from a defensive ring around the house that could withstand some of the most potent spellcraft.

And he bound the magics of his woodland defense to one spell: ' _Arboris.'_

* * *

The empty expanse of the mental battleground shook as soon as the word left Harry's lips. Unlike with the pillars, the ground did not give way as trees burst forth, rather, the gray ground _melted_ away; the now liquid-like environment molding in trees.

Harry wasted no time once the battleground became familial ground. He run through the trees, eager to put some distance between him and his opponent. He drew upon his gift to keep tabs on Slytherin, finding another use for it as every imperfection on the ground sprang into his mind as he reached them. In only a few minutes, he had put a considerable distance between.

Harry came to a stop near a particularly large oak, leaning against the mighty tree. He sensed Slytherin was still near the stone pillars, making his way slowly towards the treeline. ' _He's not in any particular hurry,_ ' Harry mused as he caught his breath, ' _is he that confidant, or does he want me to attack him?_ '

Even with the advantage of the forest, Harry wished he had Hermione and Luna here. Slytherin's casual dispelling of his earlier attack proved that the figure lived up to his creator's legendary status. Against someone with that much power and skill, three had better odds than one.

' _Wait,_ ' Harry thought, inspiration striking like lightning, ' _we were hit by the same spell. The same spell that Slytherin's a part of. And we're in my mental space. That means that I should be able to draw Luna and Hermione here!_ '

After confirming that Slytherin was still some distance away, Harry set to summoning his lovers. With a wave of his wand a large, perfect circle formed on the ground. Runes began to form within the circle; their nature and orientation designed to focus the spell.

With the circle complete, Harry began to ready the spell. Even with the quick and dirty nature of the circle, he was confident this would work. He had to be. With closed eyes and steady breath, Harry focused his mind, drawing upon his memories of Hermione and Luna; every morning waking up with them beside him, every laugh to stave of the harsh truth of the world, every tear shed when that harshness came crashing down upon them.

With these memories of Luna and Hermione firmly held in the front of his mind, Harry poured them into his magic and cried out " _Expecto Patronum!_ "

* * *

Within the darkness floated two young women, one blonde, the other brunette. Neither were aware of the other, trapped in their own personal hells of loss and ruin. As they were forced to endure visions of death, a beacon of light broke across the horizon of their fabricated nightmare. Warmth filled the cold, still air over the fields of death, the unmoving figures of dead loved ones fading away as the white dawn broke.

The two women were blinded by the sudden light, as their vision returned they saw the other in the now empty plane. Before they could speak, the light moved, becoming more distinct, until a great stag of brilliant radiance stood before them. The two shared a brief look before they reached a hand to the figure of light; Prongs, the patronus of the man they loved.

Fingers barely made contact with the lighted pelt before the stag bloomed into a greater light. A tugging sensation pulled at the two, the sense of a firm, but gentle hand grasped around their extended hands. They were drawn into a passage of light, moving faster and faster until a flash found them standing in a sylvan setting, met with the grinning visage of one very relived wizard.

* * *

Harry had barely lowered his wand before a blond missile crashed into him, followed a second later by her brunette counterpart. Harry felt what they had experienced from Slytherin's trap/test, pass into him, their mental link working better than it had ever in the physical world. He sent back reassurance along with what had transpired between him and the Slytherin replica. Mental magic was a such a handy shortcut sometimes.

The three separated, and while Hermione and Luna began to apply their wits to formulate a battle plan, Harry checked on Slytherin's location.

"He's still a fair bit away," he reported, telepathy was well and good but it ate away at their magic and they'd rather not waste anymore than was needed, "I think he's a bit distracted by the woods."

"Not in a hurry is he," Luna remarked as she traced her wand in an elaborate fashion, eyes flicking between Harry and Hermione.

"He doesn't have a reason to worry," Hermione replied, "He's got all the time he wants. His purpose is to test his heir. If Harry needs some time to make some plan to win, he'll let him."

"Not really, he's already moving faster, the winding path is shifting to lead him away from us, but I don't think it'll buy us much time," Harry informed them, "But looks like I used that time he gave me for the best, got the two best witches I could ever hope to find."

Hermione shook her head, "With some time left over to flirt." Her somewhat smile faded to a light frown as it was time to get serious. "So what's our move?"

"I vote for conjuring a herd of Snorkack as a distraction before we hit him in ambush," Luna supplied, wand still moving.

"No mass conjuring, too much magic and you saw what he did to my falcons," Harry said, brow furrowed, "but an ambush could work. He doesn't seem to be able to read my mind now, maybe because of the woods, but I doubt he knows I summoned you two."

Hermione nodded, "We have the element of surprise. He'll be ready for a one on one not three on one. Harry, how long do you think you could keep him 'distracted'."

"Not long," came his reply, "Your history books weren't lying about his talent for mind magic. He'd probably see through most illusions and a snare would take to long to set up without you two keeping him off balance, ruining the ambush, unless.."

He trailed off, his minding racing. "He'll notice if someone besides me casts a spell at him, but I think I can fix that problem."

Harry extended his left hand and began to trace a sphere above it with his wand. The long hours and day hunkered down at the Potter ancestral home had left the trio all a bit restless when they weren't planning attacks, training, or indulging in some distractions of the flesh. Each found a hobby to remedy this; Luna had her art managing to use some of the local flora as paints when her supplies ran low, Hermione took to brewing finding the method relaxing, and Harry found he liked to tinker.

* * *

He could dimly remember when Dudley got a building set toy for Christmas, one his cousin had played with a whopping ten minutes before discarding. Harry had been able to enjoy the set for a short while before Petunia found him with it and discard the whole while locking his in the cupboard for a few hours as punishment for playing with something not his own.

While no children play sets were at the Manor, there had been a journal left by a Great Aunt Tamara, who had been utterly fascinated by all sorts of magical items. Her notes and musings had lit a fire under Harry, in his experience most wizards duels were wand against wand. A few extra tools would help him and the girls to survive.

And what started as an attempt to devise some unexpected aids for his endeavors became a skill as valued as flying and the mind arts.

(Line)

What formed in his hand was a sphere of the size of an American baseball, made of thin glass with two bands of rune inlaid silver going around it on the horizontal and vertical lines. A soft red light burned at the core of the bauble.

Harry levitated it over the Hermione how took it gingerly, a critical eye upon the runes. "I didn't know you made a new toy Harry," she commented, "A contained spell ready to be 'cast' when the glass breaks. Clever."

"I hadn't made it before we came back. I had the idea and the runes worked out so I present the Spellbomb."

"And since it's your magic in the bomb, it won't give us away," Hermione exclaimed, "How many can you make?"

"I think ten each, filled with a blasting curse, is what I can manage without overextending myself," Harry noted, "Luna, what do you think.."

He didn't finish his query as Luna let out a small cry of triumph as she whipped her over Harry and Hermione. A weight fell upon their shoulders as a long duster style coat materialized on both of them.

Harry surveyed his new attire. It fit him well, crafted of dragon hide of deep black. Hermione's was of similar fit and make, her's green opposed to black. Luna had not left herself out, a brown coat adorned her slim figure.

"Good," Luna said with a nod, "they came out perfect."

Hermione, ever practical and knowing of Luna's creative mind, had already began to run spells over her coat. "Dragon hide with added protection from piercing and impact damage, increased spell resistance. Luna these are incredible."

Luna beamed. "You missed the anti-nargle charm, but thank you. I had a great grand cousin visit the American West once. Never took off his coat when he came home. His ten gallon hat did make it hard to go indoors thought. Too tall."

Neither Harry or Hermione had time to comment of Luna's extended family, as a large boom echoed through the woods. Harry tracked Slytherin to within three hundred yards from them, blasting the thick groups of trees to advance.

"Ok time to move," Harry said, quickly crafting the needed Spellbombs, "A disillusionment should keep them invisible until the break. Hit Slytherin after I break of the engagement, keep him guessing where I am."

With a pair of nods, Hermione and Luna took their collection of Spellbombs and faded from view as their disillusionment took hold. Harry headed out, ready now to take on Slytherin. With his loves at his side he felt he could on the world.

* * *

Slytherin was not someone to hand out compliments, but he was finding these woods as impressive as they were infuriating. He knew the woods were a part of his opponents home, the young man's memory had featured them, but his knowledge on how they worked was limited. The flora could move, covering the paths tread by his would-be heir and they turned this duel into a tracking expedition.

A flash of vibrant red streaked towards him from his left. A ducking roll and quick flick of the wand sent to spell into the trees now behind him. His prospective heir stood next to a mighty tree, wand aloft. Slytherin noted the addition to his attire, as the squared up, "An interesting choice in clothing. I take it there's more to it than an ascetic choice?"

"You'll have to find that out yourself," the Potter responded before he dove back behind the tree, casting an arc of slickly yellow as he took cover. Slytherin parried the spell, a rather powerful acid conjuring, before starting his advance.

The woods grew thicker as the duelist continued their deadly dance. The heavy canopy cast a gloomy shadow over the forest, falling back only as flashes of arcane power issued forth from the combatants wands.

Slytherin could appreciate how his opponent was fighting. Not as a brash lion, trying to overpower him, but more as a snake, moving and waiting to strike at the best time. But he wouldn't give him that opportunity.

A bubble of black water grew from his wand, poised to strike. A figure move from behind a tree to his right, a wave of amber now between them. Slytherin let loose his spell with a sharp flick; the black water burst forth, the dark wave intercepted the attack and dispersed it, before crashing into the tree cover.

Slytherin's eyes darted about as he circled around. He was playing this a bit to defensively and was prepared to go on the offense once more, when the sound of glass breaking drew his attention to his left, and an explosion followed a scant second later. Dirt and debris impacted his shield but even as he turned to where he believed the attack had originated, another explosion tore the tree some feet behind him.

Slytherin wasted no time even as wood splinters dug into his back, firing blasts of deep violet into the tree cover. His spells tore through the trees as he took off, banking on his volley dislodging Potter and throwing of his balance. But as he moved to find a more favorable position, several more blasting curses met earth and wood and he responded in kind.

This pattern repeated for far too long for Slytherin's liking. He couldn't pinpoint where his adversary was. Perhaps the woods themselves were the origin of the explosions? His musing was cut short by another blast, very near to his head. His quick spell craft blocked it, but did nothing to prevent the ringing in his ears.

The ringing was something that stood out to Slytherin. He had experienced his fair share explosions, potions and spells becoming unstable, angry rivals, drunk relatives; but something about this ringing sent his instincts off.

With a dramatic flourish, Slytherin conjured a large amount of his dark water, setting it to warp round him in a sphere. Once secure, he focused on the ringing, finding an odd pressure accompanying it. A pressure like that clued him into what was happening.

He drew his arms across his body in an x and as he threw them outward, as will his magic out. A wave of magical wind burst the black bubble and shook the trees, and one Harry Potter stumbled from his cover, hand clutching head.

* * *

As Slytherin retreated from Luna and Hermione's bombardment , Harry kept pace, wand trained on the retreating Founder. The mental snare he was going to trap him in was a delicate bit of spellwork. It didn't trap the victim in an illusion but rather made it so the effected only saw, heard, smelt, what Harry wanted him to.

The only drawback was the need for the target to be distracted from the caster, hard to make something right in front of someone just not matter to their eyes. Even as Harry layered the bewitchment on Slytherin, he knew that the snare wouldn't be able to fool him long. He was too skilled, he'd find something to tip him off.

As Slytherin retreated into his watery sanctum, Harry hoped that Luna and Hermione would get into position as soon as possible as he felt the spell being prodded. The shock wave of magic Slytherin sent out did its job of breaking the delicate spell weaving, and had the unfortunate side effect of overloading Harry's senses. Sudden brightness and deafening noise sent him stumbling from his cover.

Harry grasped as a slimy sensation crawled over him. He looked down to see him covered in Slytherin's black water, the wizard himself approaching. Harry reached for his magic, only to find it slip away.

"It will do you no good," Slytherin said as he regarded his captive, "My binding will draw away your power."

Harry grimaced and he still struggled against the bonds. "So now what? You kill me and go after Hermione or Luna?"

"No," came the curt reply, "They aren't the one who could open the Chamber. And yes, this test has reached its conclusion. You fought well but you did not best me."

Slytherin raised his wand only be be met with a grinning Harry. "Who said I was done. Still got one or two tricks up my sleeve. Like this. NOW!"

Harry threw himself down as twin rays of white made their way towards Slytherin. If the attack phased him he gave no indication as he formed a shield to intercept them. The impact let loose a blinding flash and Harry rose to his feet, a flash of blue from behind dispelling the watery binding.

Slytherin came out his defense with a flurry of spells, ones Harry blocked or deflected. Harry's offense was backed up by spells from the distant trees. Slytherin was pinned, one foe facing him and two on the periphery.

But the Slytherin simulacrum was not finished. He blocked a triple assault with a wall of conjured water before he set the black tide upon Harry, its form twisting into a basilisk. A spell from the woods behind Harry impacted the basilisk with no effect. Harry himself rolled away a watery bite as Slytherin found himself deflecting a number of spells from the far woods.

' _If its a battle of constructs, I've got just the spell,_ ' Harry thought as he pointed his wand at the earth. " _Terrous Dictum_!" The earth groaned as it from the soil a stone claw emerged, followed by the avian head of a hippogriff. The water-formed basilisk reared on the new combatant, only for the stone beast to prove as agile as its inspiration. It dodged the snake's fangs and counted with a viscous swipe of its granite claws.

Confidant his summon could deal with the basilisk, Harry joined back on the assault on Slytherin. Hermione and Luna still held their cover but several of the trees near them were torn asunder by spell fire. ' _Time to end this._ '

Harry charged forward, wand alight with ghostly white light. In a flash, Prongs was at his side, illuminating the woods in his light. Slytherin, distracted by Luna and Hermione's attacks, fired a quick blasting curse. It missed, tearing a chunk out of the tree to Harry's left. Harry willed Prongs to attack and the ethereal stag bared its antlers, and struck Slytherin square in the chest.

Prongs knocked Slytherin back several feet. Before the ancient wizard could right himself, twin ropes of white ensnared his torso. A third so joined, trapping his legs. A moment later Slytherin found himself surrounded by two witches, a wizard, a stag Patronus and a stone hippogriff. And he laughed.

"Yes, yes," he proclaimed, the trio who bested him stunned by his outburst, "that is exactly the sort of successor I want. I take it you brought forth these two when you first broke off our engagement?"

"Yes, he did," Luna supplied as Harry and Hermione were still gobsmacked, "He can be quite clever."

Slytherin opened his moth to reply when the world shook. "It looks like the time has come," he said solemnly.

"The spell's ending," Harry asked.

"Yes, once I was unable to fight, the enchantment began to restore you," Slytherin responded, 'You'll wake up a few moments after you fell into the spell. And on behalf of Salazar Slytherin, I name you Harry Potter heir and successor to his line. The Chamber is open to you and your consorts. I bid you three well in your endeavors."

As soon as his last word left his lips the world fell away into endless white. Soon the trio became aware of the cold, damp stone they lay upon. They pulled themselves up, a little uneasy after they had gotten used to their older forms. The doorway before them was no longer full of darkness, instead a large study was open to them. Warm balls of fire floated above the shelves full of books and scrolls. Another door waited to be opened across the on on the opposite wall.

The trio shared a look. They weren't getting any sleep tonight. Together the crossed the threshold, ready to see what treasures Slytherin had amassed and left for his proven heir.

* * *

 **So one duel to the death done, who knows how many left. My muse won't tell me. Wonder what secrets Slytherin's hidden study will hold. Tune in next time to find out. And I promise it'll be less than nine months.**


	8. A Lesson on Wards

**Happy New Years everybody! I just hit 1000 followers and I wanted to thank everyone who followed, faved and reviewed. Without and further ado, here's Chapter 8. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

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Ch 8: A lesson on Wards

As the midnight oil and magical orbs of fire burned, the trio of temporal heroes set about taking stock of Slytherin's hidden cache. To the surprise of no one present, Hermione made her way towards the nearest stack of books and tore into the esoteric knowledge and unknown history hopefully within. Luna followed suit, skipping form shelf to shelf, pulling a series of tomes, scrolls and tablets before settling down on the floor. Harry, seeing how his loves had this room covered, made his way to the unopened door.

Behind the ancient, magically preserved wood, lay a large room, an armory of sorts. A large assortment of weapons were displayed in pristine fashion along the both sides of the twenty yard long chamber, save for where a door to another chamber awaited five yards away. Harry reached out with his Awareness to check the items and frowned. He knew the number of weapons, how many of each type there were, even the exact length of any given one, but beyond that, nothing.

"Guess there had to be some limit to it," Harry remarked as his fingers traced the hilt of a nearby sword, "Looks like I'll have to examine everything by hand, see if there any enchantments."

Before setting about on his task, Harry turned his attention to the next room. This chamber was smaller than its well armed neighbor, and held within only four small chests. Unable the sense within these chests, Harry tapped one with his wand. While Hermione was the expert in dispelling, excepting Luna crafted spells, Harry was no slouch when it came to unraveling spellcraft.

"OK, lets see what we've got here," Harry mumbled as he cast a basic ward detection spell. The spells laid upon the chest glowed a soft blue while Harry's wand grew warm in his hand. Once the glow faded, Harry cast another spell, a series of numbers manifested in a three by five grid.

Harry let out a small breath, "Well at least its not that complicated." He spent a minute studying the arithmatic sequence, the numbers that basically explained the make up of any sort of spell. Hermione spent many hours over the years explaining the importance of arithmancy in both spell making and deconstruction.

The spell's 'fingerprint' of numbers could be used to determine its nature and complexity; the larger the arithmatic sequence, the more complex the spell. The fifteenth digit ward placed on the chest was not something Harry would have a problem breaking down by employing counter arithmatic sequences, designed to piece by piece disable the ward.

But with a relatively simple ward, as the ones on the chests were, Harry had a faster way. Gripping his wand tightly, he traced over the ward, layering his magic over it. Once he wrapped the ward in enough magic, he thrust his wand in a short, stabbing motion, with a cry of, " _Negatos!"_

A flash of blue light and a pulse of raw force emanated from the chest as the ward was broken. Harry fell back, both from the wave of force and from the sudden weariness that fell on him.

Harry took a moment to regain his breath, before he chuckled mirthlessly, "Right, twelve year old body, don't have the magic to throw around. Guess I got used to being twenty seven again."

He hauled himself up, shaking the tiredness from his head, and opened the chest. The chest was filled to the brim with coins, gold coins not to dissimilar from Galleons. Harry picked up a coin, examining both sides. He knew it was truly made of gold, but his Awareness didn't give him a look at the impression on the coin. The front held the image of two crossed wands, and the back, a Celtic knot.

Harry rolled the coin as he took count, finding the chest held 1,479 coins. He eyes the remaining chests and sighed. "Time to get cracking."

* * *

While Harry was doing his best impression of a locksmith, Hermione and Luna poured over the varied tomes and scrolls, finding the task a bit harder than they had thought when they had started.

"It would appear that our excitement gave us a case of Wrackspurts, Hermione," Luna remarked as she placed another book down on an increasing growing pile, "I should have been more cautious, they have been known to hibernate for some time, and what better to guard a library."

When no response was heard, Luna turned her attention to Hermione. The bushy haired brunette was staring at the same old tome she had first picked up, several scraps of parchment littering the desk.

Luna, knowing that only something truly important or completely infuriating could captivate Hermione so, aside from her and Harry, most of the time, picked herself off the floor and tiptoed over to her. She stopped just over behind Hermione and peered over her shoulder. The opened book was turned to its last page, a flowing hand immortalized in dark, unfading ink. Hermione's own neat and small pen filled the scraps, an attempt to translate the work Luna surmised.

"Is that Gaelic," Luna asked, causing Hermione to jump in her seat. Said witch turned to glare at her youngest lover, "Luna, how many times have I told you to not sneak up on me!"

"57, I believe," she responded, unconcerned by Hermione's admonishment, "And you haven't answered my question."

Hermione sighed; while there many things she loved about Luna, her lack of social graces, or rather her choice to not follow them, was not one of them. "Yes it is Gaelic,"she said, "an old dialect of Gaelic at that. I think this is Slytherin's personal grimoire."

"Gaelic makes sense," Luna said as she looked at Hermione's translations, "' _Shrewd Slytherin from Fen'_ was what the Sorting Hat said, or sang I suppose. Isn't there a Muggle legend involving snakes and Ireland?"

"Catholic Saint Patrick supposedly banished every snake from Ireland in the 5th century. There could be a connection," Hermione pondered, "But unless I can translate it, we'll never know," she finished with an annoyed huff.

Luna nodded, "Gaelic is hard to translate, isn't it? You did get some of it. There's only so much room in your head, Hermione, and I'd hate if you decided to get rid of those _Karma_ _Sutra positions_ to make way for a fourth language."

"Gaelic would be fifth," Hermione retorted, "English, French, Norse Runes and German. And I'm perfectly capable of remembering all that."

Luna hummed, as she toyed with her cork charm necklace, thinking. "Didn't you learn German from a book at the Manor," she queried.

Hermione's eyes widened and her hand met her brow with a dull thud. "How did I forget _that_ ," she groaned out, "and we have someone who can get there and back with no problem. Could you come here please, Dobby?"

When no excitable house elf appeared, Hermione and Luna traded a glace. They knew that Dobby would never miss an opportunity to aid Harry, and by extension, them, so his lack of response was troubling.

"I hope its the Chamber keeping Dobby out," Luna said as she drew her wand from behind her ear, "I'd rather not have to rush into a rescue mission this late at night."

Hermione, already casting spells at the walls, nodded, "It's the wards. I can already tell they're designed to isolate the Chamber. Scan the far side, love, I want to get a full look at the ward scheme."

Pale streams of light were leaving Luna's wand before Hermione had finished. The two moved through the room quickly and proceed to give a once over to the rest of the Chamber behind them. Even without scanning wherever Harry had ventured to, they were confidant they'd have a good enough layout of the wards to figure them out.

* * *

The two were still pouring over the ward's arithmancy when Harry came to rejoin them. He dragged his feet as he made his way to the empty room they were in. Stifling a yawn, he spoke, "If I wasn't able to know where you two were, I'd have been worried when I didn't find you back in the study."

"Harry, good you're here," Luna said animatedly as she turned from her work, "Can you sense anything beyond the Chamber?"

Harry blinked at the random request but complied. He frowned as his Awareness met with nothingness. There was no knowledge of the outside world.

"Nothing," he reported, "My Awareness can't sense anything. But you two already guessed that."

"Always a good idea to check," Luna said "We wouldn't any Cognivorous Flutterworms to make a nest in our ears. They tend to do that to people who get to complacent."

Harry let out a small chuckle as he took a seat beside his loves, "So what are we working on?"

"This," Hermione said, summoning an eight by seven arithmatic sequence, "is the ward scheme to the Chamber. As you can see here,"she highlighted the portion of the sequence, "is the equation for a complete lock out of anything in the Chamber. You can't Apperate in or out, use a portkey, even House Elves can't get in."

"Slytherin _really_ didn't want anybody getting in here," Harry remarked, "Anything else about the wards I should know about?"

"Other than something similar to the trap we fell into, no, nothing else," Hermione stated, "We are missing how to activate that part. I figure it's in one of Slytherin's books but those are in 8th century Gaelic."

"That's what got us looking into the wards," Luna chimed in, swapping numbers in an arithmatic chart, "Hermione tried to call for Dobby to see if he could get a book from the Manor to help in translating." She moved a few numbers and proclaimed,"And done!"

Harry looked at Luna's work, completely lost, and said, "And this is?"

"The modification needed to get a Portkey through the wards," Luna said, "Much easier than fashioning a keyed Apperation modification. Mess that up and it'll get messy."

"And adding that to the wards isn't going to blow us up," Harry asked; not doubting Luna's skill but born out of the caution of war.

Luna, knowing this wasn't a slight against her, nodded, "Oh yes, it's far easier to add something to a ward when you're inside the boundaries."

"We will need to establish the coordinates to get a Portkey to work," Hermione added, "And that will take more time than we have to work around both the Chamber's and the School's Unplottable wards."

Harry stayed silent for a moment, mulling over the problem. Over the course of the war, Harry had become something of a maverick thinker, forming unorthodox strategies that left the forces of Voldemort unable to counter their guerrilla efforts. Only the size differences in the two forces allowed the Death Eaters to maintain their domination over England.

His own history with Portkeys came to mind. The Triwizard Cup, intended to send the victor of the tournament back to the start of the hedge maze, had be overwritten by the Moody disguised Crouch to set whoever grabbed it to a graveyard in Little Hangelton, with the original coordinates still in place. ' _Hogwarts prevents Portkeys from working, except when the Headmaster makes it. And Hogwarts is unplottable, so the Portkey has to key on something other than a location._ '

Harry's eyes widened as an idea formed. "Luna, Hermione," he began, drawing their eyes to him "could the ward be changed to include a set of Portkey coordinates?"

The two witches shared a glace at their shared lover's idea, before both conjured the ward scheme. Numbers flew out and into the chart as the two bright witches pondered the question.

"It's possible," Hermione said after a few minutes of number crunching, "sort off. We can't make the ward the location, but I think we can make an object act as an anchor through the wards."

"Several objects would be better," Luna added, "we can array them to make the mid-point the landing for the Portkey. I think six, no seven would be best."

With a goal firmly in place, the trio got to work. While Hermione set about refining the ward scheme, Harry and Luna began to design the Portkey beacons.

"I think they should be about a meter and half high," Luna said as she drew a thin cylinder of that length with her wand.

"We'll need it about half a meter around for me to carve the runes," Harry added and Luna widened her drawing. With the phantom beacon the right dimensions, Harry began to add runes along its surface, with Luna making suggestions or modifications to reinforce the connection between wards and beacons.

Before long, the trio had finished all they could. "All right then," Hermione said, stretching as she rose from the stone floor, "ward scheme is all set," she raised the parchment the sequence was transposed on, "beacon arrays designed," Luna held up a schematic detailing the rune alignment, "all we need to do is construct the beacons, set them up and load the new sequences into the wards, all before we leave in eighteen days. Anything I'm missing?"

"Just Luna telling us who she has in mind to harvest the Basilisk," Harry said, rolling his shoulders. Rather than answering the query, Luna yawned loudly before commenting, "Could we talk in the morning, I haven't slept since fifteen years from now?"

Harry chuckled before a yawn of his own echoed through the chamber, "I concur with Luna. We've got more that two weeks to work on this, and that's plenty of time to get that done and any other project we can think off. A good night's rest is something I think we need."

Hermione could find no fault in his logic, her eyes heavy as being petrified was not as restful as one would think. She retreated to the study to collect some of Slytherin's books, Luna following suit. Harry took to the far room to collect what he wanted.

As Harry joined back up with his loves, Luna asked, "We never did ask you, Harry, what did you find?" Harry smiled as he reviled his gains, a set of silver rings, "Just these, and a whole chest of jewels and jewelry, three chests of gold and silver and an armory."

"And are those rings for us," Hermione asked as they made their way back to the school proper.

"They will be once I make some upgrades to them," Harry replied, "Only the best for the women I love."

The girls beamed at him, and each took one of his arms in theirs. "Well, Hermione," Luna said on Harry's left, "I do believe we've train him quite well."

"I concur Luna," Hermione replied before all three broke into laughter. If felt good to laugh again.

* * *

With no doorway back to the Room of Requirement, the trio took to using the Cloak to make their way to the seventh floor. As the neared the tapestry of Barnabas the Balmy, Luna slipped away from Harry and Hermione to set the Room. As the doors opened, the trio was met with an elaborate bed chamber; a large four poster bed with exquisite sheets, a grand fireplace with a serviceable fire burning within, and a large wardrobe of dark oak.

"Um, Luna," Harry said, a bit stunned by the Room's level of detail, "We only needed a place to sleep, not some, er, honeymoon suite."

"I know, Harry," came Luna's replay as she moved behind a partition, "But I asked for a comfortable place for three lovers to sleep and here we are."

Luna emerged dressed in a tasteful nightgown as Hermione took her place to change. "At least the Room didn't only provide lingerie," Hermione commented as she changed, "though we have some very fun options when the time comes."

Harry, guessing there wouldn't be many options for him to change into, simply transfigured his attire into a nice set of pajamas. The expenditure of magic added to his tiredness and his eyes grew heavier. He trudged to the bed, flopping onto the silk sheets. The bed dipped and Harry turned around to lay on his back, as Luna gently removed his glasses, placing them on the side table. She cuddled into his left side as Hermione joined them on his right.

The three let out sighs of contentment. The familiar sensation of comfort and safety washed over them; it didn't mater that their bodies were that of young teens, their love was something that age had no hold over. For them, home was right there, in each others embrace.

The illumination of the Room dimmed as it sensed its occupants neared Morpheus' realm. The three fell into dreams of a future together, free of murderous tyrants and meddling old men. Peaceful smiles formed on their faces, smiles that had almost never graced their faces in their past future.

The morning light would bring a need to get to work, as they had tasks to complete. But now, in the dead of night, they had each other, and that's all they needed right now.

* * *

 **And done. I hope I conveyed my ideas on Arithmancy well. I really hate when there's potential for something that goes nowhere, but I guess that's where we come in, to fill the gaps.**

 **Next time; a deadline in place, underworld dealings, and an encounter with a ferret with bookends. Goodbye.**


	9. A funny thing happend

**Hey everyone! Here we are with chapter 9, we're almost done with the school year, though it feels like I'm dragging it on too long. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

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Ch 9: A funny thing happened on the way to the Room

The Room of Requirement was perhaps the most magical and mysterious local in all of Hogwarts. Of those who knew of it, none had any evidence of its origin or the method of its workings. Some believed the Room was the joint workings of the Founders, their last great project before their relationship fell apart. Others held true to the idea that the Room simply came into existence as a result of the varied magics that filled the school. Of course, none of them shared their notes on the Room, wishing it to be their secret.

Regardless of its origin, The Room always did its best to fulfill the wishes of whoever needed it. And when a young blonde with a not young mind wanted a place to rest, it obliged; a comfortable bed with fine linens, sleepwear to change into, and a complete lack of windows to ward off the morning sun.

It was for that reason that as the morning dawned and the sun climbed higher, the trio of time travelers remained soundly asleep, with the male of the relationship sandwiched between his female companions. As mid-morning neared, the trio began to stir; their youthful bodies recharged from their adventures. A soft pop echoed through the Room as a covered tray materialized upon a side table, filling the air with the scent of breakfast.

The aroma of scones and sausages stoked the fires of hunger within the three young heroes, and soon their eyes began to flutter. Luna, the lightest sleeper, was the first to become fully aware of the awaiting meal and worked to extricate herself from the tangle of limbs she found herself in.

She tried to lift herself up, only for her hair to not cooperate. She looked to her left to see Hermione had her blonde locks wrapped around her fingers. Luna leaned towards Hermione, over Harry's slowly waking form, an impish smile upon her face.

She carefully liberated her hair from Hermione's grasp before bring her lips to the brunette's ear. "Hermione," Luna spoke softly into her ear, "time to get up. You don't want to miss that book sale, do you?"

Luna leaned back just in time as Hermione's eyes shot open and she bolted upright, head turning about as she got her bearings. Once her mind was fully awake she glared at her blonde lover, "Not funny Luna," she growled, "how would yo like it if I whispered in your ear to wake you up?"

"I know I wouldn't mind it," Harry piped up, having been awaken by all the movement. He sat up, taking in a good whiff of the supplied meal. "Now, how about that breakfast?"

* * *

As they dug into their provided meal and pondered the days activities, Hermione turned to Luna and asked, "You never did tell us how you planned to have the Basilisk harvested. Care to enlighten us?"

Luna took a sip of her hot chocolate, savoring the rich flavor, before beginning, "Daddy once had a lead on where a herd of Crumple Horned Snorkack might be and hired several people to assist him on the expedition."

"And one of these naturalists will be able to help us," Hermione asked as she buttered a scone.

"Oh no," Luna laughed, "Mr. Klipp isn't a naturalist. He's a poacher."

Harry sighed, "Of course it couldn't be simple. I guess if we want to be discrete, we'll have to move outside of the law. How do we contact them?"

"They have a shop in Knocturn Alley," Luna supplied, "An apothecary, it's only a front of course, but a good one, if I remember correctly. Mr. Klipp and his partner, Mr. Flaubert, are good at what they do."

"Any idea on how much they'll charge for the harvest," Hermione inquired.

Luna frowned as she pondered that question. "I'm not too sure. The Basilisk is quite large, though the value of some of ingredients could get them to cut back the price, I'd imagine. 300, 400 Galleons, maybe."

"I guess its a good thing Slytherin left some goodies to sell," Harry said, recalling his haul.

"How much did you find anyway," Hermione asked.

"Let's see," Harry said as he tabulated his findings, "About 3,000 gold coins, 700 silver coins, 8 necklaces, 7 rings, not counting the two I took for you, 17 assorted gems, 12 swords of various make, 5 battle axes, 4 spears, 5 shields, and 2 war hammers."

"Slytherin really did intend to make the Chamber his family's nest egg," Luna remarked, "I guess a Basilisk would make a good guard dog."

"It's a good thing we've got more than a fortnight until term ends," Hermione added, "We'll need to do a full inventory so we won't get ripped off when we go to sell it."

Luna nodded and asked the Room for a quill and parchment. When her request was met, she began to take notes. "Let's see," she began, "We need to take inventory, translate Slytherin's books, make the Portkey beacons, modify the Chamber's wards, test the Portkey..." She trailed off, thinking. "Oh, we'll need to make a disguise for when we sell everything. We are a bit young to be tomb raiders."

Wheels began to turn in Harry's head at that idea. "A transfiguration would be harder to get around than an illusion, plus it can fix the height issue, but they're harder to hold and we don't have the magic for that."

"But," Hermione interjected, "if we tie the spell to an anchor, we can lock the image and have it act as a battery."

"We do have an excess of jewelry," Harry conceded, "and I think I can whip up a rune pattern take can keep the transfiguration up for an hour and a half. Thought now that I think about it, where are we going to get the material for the beacons?"

"There's always the Room," Luna said, "you said there was a place here that was filled with junk and lost things. I figure there would be something we could use."

"Good idea," Hermione added. She asked the Room for the time, and a simple clock materialized, reading _10:27_. "Well, I guess it's time to get to work. Harry, do you think Dobby can get into the Manor?"

Harry thought for a moment before nodding, "He should, the wards are meant to keep out anyone who isn't told where it is. I give him the knowledge and he'll bypass the wards. Dobby!"

With a small pop, the excitable house elf appeared. "Master Harry Potter called," he asked.

"Dobby we need you to go to Potter Manor, and collected some books for Hermione. I'm going to put the location in your mind with magic, OK?"

With Dobby's enthusiastic nod as affirmation, Harry slipped Potter Manor's location into the house-elf's mind, the transfer seamless.

"Master Harry is skilled with magic," Dobby said reverently, "Dobby feels likes he's being at new home for years."

Caught up in his excitement, Dobby was about head off before his eyes widened. "Oh, Dobby is a bad elf!"

He made to bash his head into the table, only for Luna to stop him before he made a single step. She smiled serenely at the distressed elf as she knelt down. "Dobby," she began, "I know you feel that if you make a mistake you have to punish yourself, but none of us want that. You were about to head to the Manor without knowing what books to get?"

Dobby nodded, eyes teary. "I thought so," Luna continued, "That's OK. Hermione, do you have a list written up for which books you need?"

The bushy haired brunette nodded and produced the parchment her list was upon. Luna gently summoned it, causing Dobby's eyes to grow wider, "Such strong and kind Master and Misses," he sniffed out before he straightened himself. He took the scrap of parchment when Luna offered it, and with a voice full of resolve, said, "Dobby wills be back quicklies," and disappeared with a pop.

Luna turned to see her loves, faces a mix of awe and adoration, and smiled. "Worst case of Wrackspurts I've ever seen. We'll have to key an eye on Dobby, don't want him relapsing."

* * *

Dobby returned in record time, having no problems accessing the Manor or finding Hermione's books. With all her tools in hand, Hermione was ready to begin her work. The Room obliged, replacing the dining table with a wide desk. Her mood was soured, however, when Harry and Luna tried to get the Room to create an access to the room full of the raw materials they needed. No such passage can into being.

They retreated from the Room, after consulting Harry's Awareness, and tried to set the Room that way. As the door formed, Hermione frowned, "I guess your hidden item room can't be called up if the Room is already active. I suppose I can use the Library, it'll give me an alibi and I did spend a lot of time there last time I was unpetrified. Find me when you're done."

With a pair of chaste kisses, Hermione was off, leaving Harry and Luna to dig into ancient history. The aforementioned duo, not ready to risk being seen, quickly entered the Room. Piles of various items stretched as far as they could see, some well over ten feet tall.

"Well this is going to be an adventure," Luna remarked as she picked up what was most likely a telescope, though a good quarter of it was melted off.

"A quick one, maybe," Harry replies as he accessed his Awareness. Pain ripped through his head as information passed into it at the speed of thought. He fell to the floor in a boneless heap as he became aware of everything in the Room; every book, piece of broken equipment, chair, from the smallest jewel to the largest of bookcases.

Abruptly, everything fell away and Harry only knew one thing; Luna, right beside him, her wand aloft. He quickly cut of his power, his head throbbing worse than when he tried some firewhiskey an ancestor had left at the Manor. Luna soft voice cut through the hazy pain her cool hand upon his heated brow, "Harry, come back to me. Hermione will be ever so cross if I let anything happen to you."

Harry let out a pained, wheezy laugh. He sat himself up, noting the blue bubble around him and Luna. "How'd you know my Awareness my overloading?"

Luna shrugged as she run her wand over Harry's head,"I guessed. I figured the Room was doing something, so I set up an isolation barrier. What happened?"

"I knew everything, Luna," Harry said, "Every item, what they were, where they were. It was, intense."

"To intense," Luna remarked, her diagnosis spell finished, "You're brain lit up like a Christmas tree. What were you looking for?"

"I just sort of, turned it on," Harry said lamely, slowly getting up off the floor, "Not going to do that again."

"I wonder if it was because of the number of things here, or the Room itself," Luna pondered, "Oh well, we can think on it later. Let's get hunting."

The two set off, eyes keen for the raw material they needed; metal mostly, plus any useful tools they could make use of. After a few minutes of wandering, they came upon a small pile of scrapped metals; twisted telescopes, cracked cauldrons, severed scales, and items to damaged to identify.

Harry and Luna started to sift through the pile, collecting what items they figured they could break down into the raw material they needed. "Think the Room can give a forge to work on the beacons," Harry asked Luna as he placed a particularly lumpy cauldron into an extended bag he'd conjured.

"It should," Luna replied, adding, "I wonder how a set of scales could end up as twisted as this," as she places said scales into her own bag.

Once they exhausted the pile of useable materials they continued on, gathering new items as they went. They figured they could re-purpose the pewter cauldrons to serve as the base of their beacons, with brass and copper as additive elements. Soon they figured they had enough to complete their project and made their way to the exit. As they walked, Harry noticed something he recognized, a bust of a rather ugly warlock. Memories of his sixth year came to him; the Prince's textbook, the Vanishing Cabinet and the Death Eater attack. ' _Note to self: get Cabinet and Prince book, too valuable to be left around._ '

Near the bust of the warlock lay a tarnished piece of jewelry; a tiara of some kind. Harry remembered using it along with the bust as a land marker for the Prince's book. His reverie was broken when beside him Luna gasped.

He turned his gaze to her and found her to be staring at the old jewelry piece, disbelief in her eyes. "Luna," Harry asked, "Is there something about this tiara I should know about?'

"Harry," Luna replied, her voice low and barely above a whisper, "I think this is Ravenclaw's Lost Diadem. It's been missing for nearly one thousand years and it's been here all this time."

Before Harry could comment, Luna had her wand drawn, casting spells upon the supposed artifact of a Founder. Her spellcraft was quick and precise, a few moments and a string of numbers issued forth from her wand.

"It's old enough," Luna said with a frown, "But there's some kind of interference on the spellwork. Like two enchantments on it are fighting each other."

Realization struck Harry like a lightning bolt. "Luna, don't do anything else to that thing!"

Luna took a step back on reflex, her mind whirling as she tried to work though what she had found on the diadem and what set of Harry's danger sense.

With a wary gaze on the Diadem, Harry said, "Riddle used Slytherin's Locket and Hufflepuff's Cup as Horcruxes. Dumbledore guessed he used other Founder artifacts too. What are the odds that a lost relic would just be setting around in Hogwarts, in a room very few know about."

"Very small," Luna replied, "What are we going to do? Leave it here, take it?"

"I don't want to risk anything happening to it if we leave it here," Harry said, "Just because no one found it before isn't a good reason to leave it laying around."

"And according to legend," Luna added, "the Diadem is said to increase the wearer's intellect. Would be handy to have."

Harry nodded, gripping his wand tight. He knew there were only a few ways to destroy a Horcrux; Basilisk venom was one, and Killing Curse was another. Hermione had theorized that because a Horcrux had a soul fragment in it, then the spell that could remove a soul from a body worked on an object with a soul inside. It had on the locket, after all.

Harry took a few deep breathes as Luna stepped back, her wand at the ready. All spells need intent to function, a weak will leads to a weak spell. And the three Unforgivables needed the most intent to be cast. The Imperius Curse needed a great want to suppress another's will, the Cruciatus a want to cause unimaginable pain, and the Killing Curse a desire to end life outright.

For Harry, to call up that desire, he needed hate. He thought of the war they had fled. The sight of people killed by Riddle and his followers, the ones left worse than dead, the scent of burnt flesh and drying blood. They were burned into his mind, their minds, and had plagued them for months and still came to haunt their dreams. Those memories flashed before, the fuel for his hate lighting a fire within.

He regarded the tarnished diadem, not seeing an artifact from one of the Founders, but a mini Riddle, the man who cost him a family, a normal life and a hopeful future. The hate and rage burned as an inferno within and Harry directed it at the diadem with a snarl of " _ **Avada Kedavra!**_ "

A jet of green shot from his wand, its aim true as it struck the diadem right in the center of its blue gem. A ghastly scream filled the room as black smoke rose form the diadem, vaguely resembling a twisted face before it dissipated.

As Harry cast the Killing Curse, Luna stood alert, ready to act. She figured there were many things that could result in this action. The spell could leave Harry drained of magic or leave him otherwise weekend, or the diadem could have protections on it, protections that might react to being hit with the curse. She hadn't yet truly relived on her gift, only using it on purpose earlier to stop Dobby's attempted self-flagellation, but know she held it at the ready.

She saw the curse fire from Harry's wand in transparent silver-white a second before the green of the actual spell issued forth. A silver cloud proceeded the black one, and a phantom Harry fell before the flesh one began to sag under his own weight.

Luna caught her Harry right as his legs gave out, his wand slipping from his limp grasp. His eyes blinked rapidly, struggling to remain awake. Luna pressed her lips to his brow before whispering to him, "It's OK Harry, I've got you. You're safe."

Harry managed a slight smile before sleep claimed him. Luna laid him gently on the floor before slipping next to him. After all, sleeping was much better with someone holding you to keep the nightmares at bay.

* * *

There were not many students inside, much to Hermione's relief. While her thirteen year old self had been somewhat put off about the exams being canceled, now it gave her the time she needed to work. She had set herself up once again in the back of the Library and discreetly made it so she wouldn't be bothered.

The task of translating was a tedious task. Every word had to be checked and, more often than not, had to be double checked once greater context was established. But as Hermione labored, the tale of Slytherin's last night at Hogwarts was brought back from the shadows of history. And before long, the passage was translated:

" _So it has come to this. My last night at Hogwarts, spent in exile. My thoughts run rampant and I must put them to the page. News from the south is that the inquisitions and hunts have abated and the night began with much rejoicing at that. Helga had prepared a marvelous meal, her retinue of elves have become, tolerable, under her direction._

 _Godric offered the toast, one for peace and in memory of of those we have lost. What empty words. How many of the Warden's turned in their graves what he spoke of his plans for the Muggle reared students. He wants to send them back to their 'families'. Back into the lands inhabited by those magic-less barbarians. Back into the fires._

 _And Rowena and Helga agreed with his idea. Rowena said it was the best option to ensure a peaceful co-existence, that the students could assuage their fear. The Muggles don't fear us because they don't understand us. They fear our power, and an understanding will only increase that fear. And Helga is too concerned with her student's happiness to conceive that their families could turn on them._

 _And Godric, how can you have forgotten that battles we've fought. Against their savagery. How many children did the Order save from the torch? Have you forgotten that, have you become so far removed from those fields of battle, here in our sanctuary?_

 _I know my implores fell upon deaf ears. And so it fall to me alone to safeguard our legacy, my legacy. My basilisk has grown to the point of self-sufficiency, my eldest students can lead their fellows in my stead._

 _The night grows old. I have much to finish before I depart._ "

Hermione sat back, stretching her writing hand. ' _It was one thing to hear that Slytherin didn't hate Muggleborns,_ ' she thought, ' _but to read it in his own words is something else._ '

She brought index finder to where she had transcribed the word ' _Wardens_ '. ' _The way this word is used,_ ' her finger traced to the word ' _Order_ ', ' _and here with Order, it seems that Slytherin was part of some sort of group dedicated to protecting wizards and witches. And it seems Gryffindor was a member._ '

Nothing was really known Slytherin, or any of the Founders, prior to the Hogwarts. Some information about where they hailed from but after that, no record, no tales, nothing. But here was a light into that murky past. Questions burned in Hermione's bushy head.

' _Let's start with this Warden business,_ ' she decided, a single word would be easy to pick out among the pages, ' _It sounds like he considered being a part of them a great honor._ '

And so Hermione set out to once more slough through old Gaelic, intent on illuminating the shadowed history of Salazar Slytherin.

* * *

Harry groaned as consciousness began to worm its way back into his brain. He felt like he had been trampled by a herd of hippogriffs after playing a marathon Quidditch game. Every little movement hurt and it felt like moving through, pudding.

' _Why do I smell pudding,_ ' Harry thought as the smell hit his nose. He wrenched his eyes open, wincing at the brightness. He turned his head left where he spied a blonde with a large bowl, spoon in hand.

The blonde beamed at him, "Good afternoon, Harry. Pudding?"

Harry forced himself up, slowly. Before he could answer, spoonful of chocolatey goodness assailed his taste buds. He savored the taste, vaguely recalling dessert in the Great Hall.

Once his treat was finished, he asked, "Is that pudding from the kitchen?"

Luna nodded, "Yep. You've been asleep for about two hours. I took a nap too, you still make a good pillow, and I when I woke up, I asked Dobby if he could fetch some pudding for when you woke up."

"Dobby can be called here," Harry remarked, after taking another spoonful of pudding, "that would have been useful to know before."

"No, I couldn't reach him, but I thought about it and opened the door. Seems the Room is only sealed off if its closed," Luna explained.

Harry rose to his feet, his eyes falling upon the unmoved Diadem. "Have you checked it yet?"

Luna nodded to the affirmative, "No sign of Riddle's magic on it, the spellwork is flowing smoothly."

"Brilliant," Harry said as he stretched out his stiff limbs. The Killing Curse burned almost all of his magic, and the backlash made him feel like he'd run a marathon, and he would need more than a short nap to regain full power. The pudding was helping though, chocolate was a godsend.

"I think you need some fresh air and sun, Harry," Luna said as she placed a gentle hand on Harry's arm. "I can take care of things here and meet up with Hermione."

"That sounds like a good idea," Harry replied, "though having some company sounds like a better one."

"We wouldn't be able to keep our relationship a secret for long if we did that," came Luna's retort, a small hint of disappointment in her voice, "plus you know you can't really meditate with people around."

With an exaggerated sigh, Harry relented, "I know, I know. Wouldn't be productive, bot you have said good company make for faster healing."

"And you'll have that company tonight," Luna said, "but first some nature. Doctor's orders."

"Hermione's the one who took to medicine," Harry replied with a snort, "in fact, I seem to recall someone trying to grow extra arms."

"It was a legitimate experiment," Luna countered, unable to keep a smile off her face. A good banter was good to restoring one's magic, she firmly believed.

"Sure, sure," Harry conceded, as he headed towards the door, pausing before he opened it. Luna joined him after carefully placing the Diadem in one of the bags. Harry placed a kiss upon her brow as he wrapped her in a hug, one she returned with greater vigor. "I'll see you and 'Mione later."

Once Luna had released him, Harry made his way to the grounds. Tentatively, he reached for his Awareness, keeping its range tight around him, Once he was certain his head wouldn't explode, he checked the nearby passages, finding them clear.

A few minutes later, Harry was out of the castle, the bright sun of early June warm upon his skin. He meandered his way towards the lake, stopping at a cluster of trees. Harry sat against one of the trees, knowing that no one was near. And he began to meditate.

Luna had been the one to introduce them to this particular activity. It was more than just simply exercises to calm the mind. With some difficultly, it was possible to enter a sort of trance and connect with the ambient magic. This connection proved useful for restoring one's exhausted magic.

As Harry slipped deeper into his meditation, the barrier between his body and the world faded, and the magic flowing around Hogwarts buzzed against his senses. Centuries of students, teachers, ghosts and other magically inclined beings had added to the natural magic of the lands the castle was build upon, whipping it into a barely contained tempest, far different than the calm deepness the forests around Potter Manor felt like.

The magic around Harry set his hair on end as what felt like shocks of lightning danced over his skin. Each prick of power sent little spasms shuttering through his muscles, yet even though that discomfort, Harry could feel his magic returning. It was far different from the slow, but steady restoration he was used to back at the Manor, here it was uneven; some bursts restored a great deal of magic, others barely any.

Still, after a little more than an hour, Harry felt that he had restored his magic enough to cease his meditation. Before he could emerge from his meditative state, a cacophony of emotions and thoughts crashed into him. Harry jerked back from the simulation, eyes snapping open. Luna's advice of seeking isolation hadn't been one to ignore; the connection to the greater magic had a drawback. It over sensitized Harry's aptitude with mental magic, turning an active skill into a passive sense. Even the smallest thought and dulled emotion sounded like a roar when he meditated.

Harry searched for his unwanted company. He turned his gaze up the nearby path and eyed his quarry. The grove gave Harry effective cover, so the trio of Draco Malfoy, Vincent Crabbe, and Gregory Goyle remained unaware of his presents. They were still some distance away, Malfoy doing most of the talking as was the norm.

Even after nearly a decade, Harry's last interaction with Malfoy still echoed in his mind; a man worn down by his actions, unable to escape the hell he'd entered. The smart thing would be to avoid them, he'd regained enough power to cast a Disillusionment and wait them out or even just slip away. Yet as they drew closer, an idea formed.

' _Well Draco,_ ' Harry though as he drew his wand, ' _you regretted joining Riddle last time. Maybe this time, you'll walk a different path._ '

* * *

 **There we have it. I have to admit, I had planned for the Harry Draco confrontation this chapter, but once I started writing, my ideas about what I wanted to do with changed and so, I needed more time to iron out that.**

 **On another note, I've gotten back into Magic the Gathering, or at least the story of it, and I've been tinkering with using MTG color pie to identify our characters. So far I've placed Harry as White/Red/Blue, for his martial skill, bravery, creativity with artifacts and mental magics, and flexibility of thought.**

 **Hermione I see as Blue/White/Black; intelligent, rule abiding, but vicious against those that oppose her. Remember the curse if you reviled the DA to Umbridge? Only after ten years as Public Enemy Number One, her rules aren't quite reflective of society.**

 **Luna is clearly Green/Blue; insightful, wise, capable of going with the flow as much as charting her own path.**

 **So have I captured my ideas and characterization with the color pie, have I missed something huge and obvious, am I just padding this out for word count?**

 **Anyway, next chapter: the Confrontation, the Revelations and the Vacation. See you soon!**


	10. Flashes of the Past

**So, yeah, it's been a while. Sorry for the wait. Lost my mojo for this, tried some other things. Found my mojo( under my couch, chilling with my car keys). And here we go.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter

* * *

Ch 10: Flashes of the Past

 _Flashback_

 _June 21st 1998_

 _The raid started as one that Harry, Hermione, and Luna had become familiar with in recent months. The camps set up by Riddle to contain the Muggleborns, Half-bloods, and Pureblood dissenters were scattered around the country, well hidden by wards. Contrary to what some believed, the self-titled Dark Lord wasn't using these camps just as a place to hold those he deemed beneath him until he wanted them killed._

 _These camps were where experiments were conducted. Experiments on the nature of magic, ones that could only be done of 'expendable' subjects. Muggleborns had their magic practically ripped from them, Half-bloods and Purebloods re-educated in Riddle's ideals; Purebloods on top and Half-bloods as cannon fodder._

 _The trio had liberated three such camps in the last two months, none of them had been as large as this one. "I counted four guards on the walls," Harry reported, his voice tinny over the magical radio sewn onto his sleeve cuff, "and I've got a rough count of 40 prisoners."_

" _My count's 47," Luna reported, "Hermione, have you got all the charges planted?"_

" _Last one's down," Hermione said, finished with her task of planting explosive traps under the safety of Harry's Invisibility Cloak. The traps were Harry's idea, based on the notes left by one of his relatives; A tablet with an explosive spell contained with a runic array. They allowed for strategic deployment; the three freedom fighters had been able to fool their previous targets they were a much larger, more effective force then three young adults with incomplete schooling._

" _In position, girls," Harry questioned, wand at the ready to trigger the explosive spells. Once both had responded in the affirmative, he moved his wand in a sharp horizontal line. The dull bass of explosions echoed through the early morning air as yellow light shot out from the tablets, the concussive forces shattering the walls of the camp, launching the guards upon it into the air._

 _Harry readied himself as the remainder of the camp's Death Eaters rushed from their accommodations to confront the enemies they thought were besieging them. "Well they certainly do look a bit on edge," he muttered under his breath as he readied his magic, "Let's see if I can help them with that."_

 _Harry moved his wand in a fluid, side to side motion, envisioning a cloudy mist emanating from it and surrounding his foes. The long hours hunkered down at his family's ancestral home had given him plenty of time to refine his talents in spellcraft, as well as opening up a few new avenues in the mystic arts. Mental magic was an area Harry would have never considered given his experiences. And now it served his covert tactics well._

 _The spell spread out around the Death Eaters, slowing altering their minds. Nothing to extreme, just a small nudge increasing their natural fear and paranoia. The followers of the Dark Lord moved slowly, wands ready to liberally launch death upon their attackers. With none seen, and under the effect of the mind mist, their thoughts drifted to invisible enemies waiting to spring some trap, or to saboteurs and traitors about to blast them from behind._

* * *

 _In the hills above the camp, Luna waited patiently. Through the enchanted copper scope she wore over her left eye, she kept tabs on the Death Eaters, holding her fire until they were in optimum position and fully affected by Harry's mental muddling. Normally, at the distance she was from the camp, any precise spellcraft was impossible, but she was confident in the new toy Harry had helped her build._

 _In front of her a meter long length of iron lay, with four rings of braided copper and iron with a crystal lens fitted within placed evenly upon it. Smaller metal rods propped it up, giving it the rough appearance of a Muggle sniper rifle, or so Hermione had said. And the comparison was apt; the crystal lens were natural magnifying agents and the enchantments on the rings converted that aspect over to magnifying magic, focusing the spell to a fine point alloying it to fly a greater distance._

 _So, safely hidden away from the enemy, out of the effective range of counterattack, Luna took aim. The Death Eaters had spread out enough for her to begin and she was sure the were properly off balance. She slid her wand to touch the first ring a whispered, "Confringo." The yellow light of the spell flashed in the lenses in sequence, before a speck of light the size of a pea shot from the last lens. The condensed spell zipped through the air, passing between a few Death Eaters before it impacted upon part of a destroyed wall._

* * *

 _The sound of wood splintering sent the Death Eaters scrambling. Several launched spells at where they though the attack had originated. As the drifted further apart, Harry took the opportunity to add to the confusion. From his moleskin pouch he drew of vial of Hermione's modified Peruvian Instant Darkness Powder. While the Weasley Twins had managed, through Potterwatch, to arrange drop offs of useful items and supplies for them, they were inconstant. In an effort to extend one of the more useful items, Hermione had managed to whip up a useful knockoff. More of a dark mist than full and utter darkness, it still worked marvelously to sow chaos._

 _A sharp flick of his wrist sent the vial from his concealed local, the barrier shimmering briefly, and broke as it landed near the center of the loose mob. Several shots courtesy of Luna corralled the Death Eaters as the black mist flowed from the broken vial, cutting their visibility to only a few feet in front of them._

 _With Luna keeping them in the mist, Harry began his next trick. With a series of sharp wand movements, he crafted a series of illusions, all of a nondescript man clad in simple gray robes. A tap on his glasses brought up an enchantment to see into the mist and he guided his simulacrums into the thick of it, arms raised as if to launch a spell._

 _The sudden appearance of an unfamiliar figure seemingly charging at him set one of the dark wizards into a spell slinging frenzy. Jets of purple fire spewed liberally from his wand, passing harmlessly through the illusions and hitting his compatriots. Lurid violet flames lit the darkness and screams rang out, only cut by a cacophony of other spells trying in vain to strike their attackers. Harry kept low in his disillusioned foxhole as random spells flew overhead._

" _Hermione," Harry spoke into the radio in his sleeve, the din of spell fire and screams covering his words, "prisoners out yet?  
_

" _I'm sending the last group now," she replied, a soft pop sounded as the group were whisked away by portkey to a safe location, "They're away. I'm going to see if there's anything important kept here. You two OK out there?"_

" _Oh yes," Luna's replied, "It's quite the light show."_

" _We just need to run clean up once the mist clears," Harry said, "but everything looks good on our end."_

 _No sooner had the words left his lips, then did a series of pops cracked through the air. Ten Death Eaters in full regalia had Apparated into what had been the entrance of the camp. They seemed perplexed for a moment, before wands were brandished sharply, ready to face their foes. The apparent leader of the party jabbed his wand at the mist field; a loud snap and flash of yellow light enveloped the mist, fading to reveal the camp Death Eaters, most on the ground dead or dying._

 _Another sharp gesture conjured a stiff wind behind one of the few Death Eaters still standing, pushing the stunned man towards the new arrivals. The leader spoke in harsh, low tones towards the shell-shocked man; his ability to respond jumbled by the lingering mental spell._

 _Harry couldn't hear what they were saying, and as much as he wanted to take out some of Riddle's more competent followers, he knew they were not in the best position to attack and live to tell about it. "Hermione, Luna," he spoke into the microphone as quietly as possible, "hostiles popped in, retreat to rendezvous."_

" _Harry," Hermione's voice was tight as it rang in his ear, "we can't leave yet. I think this camp was set up to be Rookwood's personal laboratory. The books are all about dark experiments and I don't want to just leave them for the Death Eaters to use later."_

 _Harry knew whatever Augustus Rookwood, former Unspeakable and Riddle's personal researcher into dark secrets, was planning on doing to the prisoners, he'd carry out on others later. They had to do what they could to stop him._

" _Harry," Luna said, her normally airy voice devoid of its usual lilt, "It stands to reason that the lead Death Eater is Rookwood. Taking him out would hurt Riddle's research divisions, and the others would be to busy trying to find us to go back to the camp. I can take to shot."_

 _Harry couldn't argue with her, as usual her logic was sound. "OK then, here's how we do this; Hermione, grab whatever you can, light the place up and get out of there. Luna, hit Rookwood and get out. I'll keep the rest of them distracted. I doubt any of them want to risk Riddle's wrath if they kill me. I'll see you two at the rendezvous."_

" _Harry," Hermione's voice was thick with worry, "be careful. Luna, aim for between the mask and robes, that should be a weak point."_

" _Rodger that," Luna replied, "let's break an ankle."_

" _That's 'break a leg' Luna."_

" _I though you said aim for the neck, Hermione?"_

 _A sigh was all that was heard from Hermione's end, but Harry knew she now wore a small smile. Luna's quirks, both her normal ones and the exaggerated ones, managed to lift their spirits even in these dark times. But now was not the time to dwell on such thoughts, they had one last job to do._

* * *

 _Luna set her sights on who they presumed to be Rookwood, who was now heading towards the camp, his back to her. His fellow Death Eaters, both his entourage and the camp staff, began to follow, wands drawn and tensed for battle. Luna waited, letting the group get as far from Harry's position as she could give him._

 _She slowed her breathing as her she watched Rookwood, eyes on the sliver of pale flesh that stood out from the dark robes. As he neared the entrance of the camp, Luna gathered her magic, her wand warmed and she whispered, "Flipendo."_

 _The Knockback Jinx leaped from Luna's wand, the lenses condensing the concussive spell smaller and smaller until it left the final lens the size of a small gobstone. With frightening speed it jetted towards Rookwood, finding its mark on his exposed neck. Rookwood's steps faltered as the spell imparted its kinetic energy on to the bones in his neck. With a sickening squelching sound, they erupted from his throat, the bony shrapnel flying in all directions._

* * *

 _As Rookwood's body fell, Harry sprang up from his hiding place, wand moving in a wide arc. A cry of "Terrispo", Harry unleashed a wave of dirt and stone, raining debris down upon the now leaderless Death Eaters. Using his earthen tsunami as cover, Harry ran towards the treeline. He took to a serpentine pattern, dipping behind the trees as the forest became denser._

 _His gait increased as he heard the footfalls and indistinct calls of the now pursuing Death Eaters. Spells raced after him; trees behind him burst into flames and were torn apart by the errant jets of vibrant light._

 _Harry's legs burned as he kept his pace, the uneven terrain minimizing his athletic advantage over his pursuers. An explosion behind him slowed his pace slightly. Harry took the risk and turned to face the camp. Bright flames burned as the various structures succumbed to the ravenous advance._

 _The Death Eaters had also halted as their camp was consumed, and Harry was more than happy to leave them to gawk at their ruined camp. He readied himself to Apperate when a gleam of light flew from the lone Death Eater to not be staring at the blaze._

 _Harry dived deeper into the woods, a quick shield charm deflecting the splintered remains of a tree that took the spell fire for him. Harry dodged more salvos of spellcraft as the distance between him and his lone enemy closed._

 _'He's gaining on me,' Harry thought, his mind keeping pace with his feet. A large tree stood out to him, far wider than its neighbors. 'Perfect.'_

" _Venenu Rodos", Harry shouted as he pivoted near the tree, a wave of violent, toxic yellow flying from his wand. The caustic cloud raced towards the masked Death Eater, who quickly moved his wand to defend against the oncoming spell. A sharp flick of the wrist and a bright flash of neon blue dispelled Harry attack and the Death Eater scanned the area to find his prey._

 _The sound of under brush under foot drew the Death Eater's attention to the left of a large tree and he resumed his chase. As he rounded the tree, a faint shimmer was all the warning he got before Harry sent a Knockback Jinx right into his flank._

 _The Death Eater flew several yards before his legs hit a tree, sending him spiraling into the ground. Harry was about to Apperate, he saw no point in staying, when a weak voice called out, "Potter."_

 _Harry turned to the downed Death Eater. The impacts had knocked the mask off, revealing the face of Draco Malfoy. He was panting, both in exertion and pain, his left leg bent at an unsettling angle. Through gritted teeth, he snarled out, "Well, aren't you going to finish me off?"_

 _The temptation did cross Harry's mind. Malfoy had caused him and his friends no end of pain and misery in the seven years they had have the displeasure of knowing him, worse now because of the war. He drew closer to the downed Malfoy, wand at the ready to grant his request, when he noticed something off about Malfoy's face._

 _He was far paler than he remembered, which made the dark circles under his bloodshot eyes stand out. His countenance shook Harry from his thoughts of killing his wounded enemy, his wand lowering slightly._

" _Going soft, Potter," Malfoy taunted, "I thought you would leap at the chance to end me after I killed your precious Dumbledore."_

 _Harry, unfazed by the taunt, decided to give tit for tat. "Oh sod off Malfoy. Guess working for the great noseless one ain't all its crack up to be, huh."_

 _A flash of anger lit Malfoy's eyes for a moment before it died. Harry let his wand arm fall to his side, thoughts ablaze as he worked through this conundrum. 'Getting Malfoy to just tell me why he wants me to kill him won't work. Guess I'll just have to do some poking around his head for answers.'_

 _His study of_ _mental magics extended beyond just inducing confusion. While Occlumency was something he still had issues with, he had found it's opposite far easier. He snapped his wand arm back up, feeling just a little bit of smug satisfaction as Malfoy flinched, and intoned, "_ _Legilimens."_

 _Harry mind rushed into Malfoy's intent on understanding his schoolyard and battlefield enemy's suicide wish. It took only a moment to encounter the blond's mental shields. The pain from Malfoy's leg and whatever contributed to his sickly visage had turned what would have been a respectable defense into little more than an improvised barricade._

 _Still a defense it was, and Harry had to fight to dive deeper into Malfoy's mind. Flashes of memory played for him, some Malfoy's attempt to hide from his probe, a glimpse of_ _a Quidditch pitch from several yards up, the Slytherin Common Room, Snape's classroom, all inconsequential things._

 _Others were what Harry was looking for. Screams as Death Eaters tortured or raped someone,_ _the scent of blood and other bodily fluids burning his nose. Flashes of death, sometimes in a dungeon, other times_ _outside, played for Harry. More than the sights, scents and sound, Harry felt what Draco felt as these events had played out. The pit of his stomach lurched like the sea and his knees were a moment from giving way. Cold sweat chilled him to the bone and his hands shook as they tried in vane to hold a wand._

 _Harry had seen enough. He pulled out from Malfoy's mind, both young men flinching from their mental fight ending. "Why, Malfoy," Harry inquired once he caught his breath, "why still fight for him?"_

 _Malfoy grunted, their battle aggravating his wounded leg, "You've seen what he does to his enemies. I've seen what he does to those who displease him. It wouldn't end with me. He'd go after Mother._ _I won't let that happen. If I die trying to get_ **you** _at least he won't hurt her."_

 _S_ _o that was it. Love. Harry felt a small twinge of sympathy for the blond Death Eater. It didn't erase Malfoy's actions but it made it harder to_ _act on_ _hi_ _s request._ _It would be easy to just end his life. Harry had taken lives in this war, but those had been against armed enemies, often faceless, mostly unknowns. Here, it was someone he knew. Someone wounded, unarmed and wishing to die._

 _H_ _is wand felt heavy in his hand._ _He could just leave. The Malfoy family had caused him and his nothing but pain and hardship, and leaving them to their fate would be fine with him._

 _But Draco knew he had a hand in the camp's destruction and Rookwood's death. Voldemort could_ _easily pull the information Malfoy's mind, and Harry was not confident he could cast a Memory Charm strong enough to completely erase his memory of these events._

 _Death was the best way to ensure his identity was concealed, even if his sworn enemy would suspect him as the perpetrator. Death would also prevent Malfoy's secrets from dooming his mother._

 _Harry brought his wand to a ready position._ _Draco_ _closed his eyes, and therefor missed the scarlet red of a Stunner emitting from Harry's wand. He quickly enspelled the unconscious Malfoy, drawing him deeper into his induced slumber, before he brought his wand to the Death Eater's temple._

" _I'll end him," Harry muttered, more to himself than Malfoy's unresponsive ears, "I'll take out Riddle,_ _and end this stupid war."_

 _A moment later a sharp bang echoed through the woods. Harry stood up, averting his eyes from the charred hole he bored through Draco's head. He focused on his breathing as he set the surrounding foliage alight with a quick spell, and Disapperated before the flames claimed Malfoy's body._

 _He collapsed as soon as he appeared at the rendezvous, his stomach evacuating its contents, even as Hermione and Luna rushed to his side._

 _Flashback end_

Harry waved his wand once the trio of Slytherin's had passed his hiding spot. Stunning them would have been the simplest way to subdue them, but it would leave Harry with having to deal with three unconscious bodies. He had a better, more flexible solution.

" _Somnolus Locomotis,"_ he incanted, a slight shimming of blue flowed from his wand, quickly enveloping the heads of the Slytherin students. Their movements slowed and Malfoy's words slurred as the spell did its work; soon they were stood still swaying slightly as light snores rumbled through their airways.

The Sleepwalker Spell in place, Harry extended his will, commanding them to come to him. Once they shambled into the small grove, Harry bade them to rest in the shade. ' _Better take care of the bookends,_ ' Harry thought as he whipped up a quick compulsion on Crabbe and Goyle; just a little push to more obedient to Malfoy for the next few hours.

' _And now to the real work,_ ' he mused as he regarded Malfoy. A normal compulsion wouldn't be able to alter Malfoy's attitudes, not without causing major changes in his personality and even greater damage to his psyche. No, he needed to go deeper, and weave a more complex spell.

" _Legilimens,"_ Harry whispered, feeling himself slip into the mind of Draco Malfoy. Without the Occlumency shields his older self had developed, Malfoy's mind had no defense against Harry's invasion.

Memories flashed before Harry, a replay of Malfoy's most recent activities. Harry ignored them, focusing on diving deeper. Soon the maelstrom of images faded away, leaving Harry standing in a dimly lit hallway, a number of portraits and other finery decorated the walls and an orientate carpet set upon the stone floor.

Harry knew he was at the entrance to Malfoy's subconscious; much like his own mind, it took the form of his home. Harry strode forward, his projection here that of his grown self, reaching the doorway at the end of the hall.

He willed the doors open, and entered the drawing room. For the moment he ignored the chandlers, organ and other things that spoke of the Malfoy Family Wealth, and instead walked to the grand portrait situated above the large, ornate fireplace.

The family portrait was like all wizard pictures, a moving reflection of the subjects cast in canvas. In the waking world these pictures held an imprint of subject's personality; in the mind, such images were more of a reflection of what the owner truly though of the subject.

A first glace, Harry noticed nothing off about it. The Malfoy's were here as they were in life; stuck up, cold, believing they were the best of the best. However, as Harry's critical eye swept over every inch of the canvas, he did notice some things.

First, the head of the household, Lucius, held a firm hand on Draco's shoulder. Every so often, the elder Malfoy would apply a slight pressure, and the son would resume his initial position. Harry also noticed small imperfections on the painted Lucius; added wrinkles, a slight fraying of his robes, very faint bags under his eyes.

Harry considered what he saw. "Looks like Malfoy's got some issues with his dad," he mused aloud. The elder Malfoy's controlling hand chaffed the son, at least subconsciously. That was evident by the painting being less than perfect were the father was concerned.

In contrast to her husband, Narcissa Malfoy, in the eyes of her son, was infallible. Every hair on her head was in its assigned place, her makeup immaculate, her attire the height of fashion.

"I can work with this," Harry said, his wand moving to Lucius. He touched every flaw Draco had so kindly pointed out and willed them to stand out even more to the youngest Malfoy. "Best way to make Malfoy not follow in the family business is to drive a rift between him and his dear father," Harry said as he drew back, considering if he needed to do any more to Draco to drive him away from his alternate path.

"What makes someone fit in Slytherin's house," Harry mused, recalling the Sorting Hat's speech to him in his first year of school, "'A thirst to prove talent', yeah that'll work."

He retreated from the drawing room, finding himself deeper in the house, up a flight of impressive stairs and now at a particular door. Inside, Draco Malfoy lay asleep, unaware that he had a visitor in his mind. Harry focused on the sleeping form, willing dreams to form, dreams of what Malfoy wanted.

Harry could almost feel the wind and rush of adrenaline that a match of Quidditch evoked as Malfoy dreamed of sport stardom. Other dreams lurked under that forefront dream, some good, others much darker. Harry pushed those darker dreams further back and pulled the Quidditch one to the front, highlighting it, making each maneuver more real, and every emotion more potent.

"Dream, Malfoy," Harry said, still tweaking Draco's dreams, "dream of flights and the roar of the crowds. And remember this, if Voldemort burns the world to the ground, who will cheer for you. Why follow someone when you can forge you own path."

His task done, Harry focused on leaving and felt the unsettling feeling of Portkey travel as he was pulled from Draco's mindscape. He drew in sharp gasp as he returned to the living world, the trio of Slytherins still sound asleep. He moved to leave, placing a false memory in them of deciding to rest among the trees and made his way back to the castle, and more importantly, his loves.

* * *

Hermione let out a slight groan as she stretched, her back sore from the horrible posture she assumed in her translation efforts. It was slow going, but her efforts were paying off. Earlier entries in Slytherin's journal had spelled out just what the 'Wardens' were; a group of wizards who had banded together to shield their fellows who could not protect themselves. Not just from Muggles, but from the goblins, vampires, and any other threat to the magical community of Great Britain.

It was with the Order of the Wardens that Slytherin had met Gryffindor, where the first idea that would become Hogwarts was thought, a place to educate and protect the next generation of witches and wizards. It was also where Slytherin would develop his view of the world; that Muggles and Magical Beings were the enemies of Wizard-kind and had to be suppressed for them to become ascendant.

As she worked out the kinks in her back, Hermione felt a slight tingling at the base of her neck. Someone had passed the outer most ward she had set up. She only relaxed when she felt another ward, one that did far more than just act like a doorbell, respond upon her flesh as the sensation of a light kiss upon her brow. A few seconds later, Luna rounded the corner, still affixing her wand back behind her ear.

With no Harry close behind, Hermione asked her youngest lover, "Please tell me Harry's just gone to the loo?"

Luna smiled and shook her head, "I sent Harry out to enjoy the day, too many wrackspurts in that room. He also may have had a slight case of magical exhaustion."

"And just what were you two doing that may have caused Harry's sudden case of exhaustion," Hermione asked; she knew Luna wouldn't be so jovial if Harry was in any way hurt, but she really didn't want to be caught unawares by whatever shenanigans they had whipped up.

"We may have found something that Riddle wouldn't want us having," Luna replies as she rummaged through her bag.

"He hid a Horcrux here," Hermione exclaimed as quietly as she could. That would be two destroyed in the span of a few days, assuming Harry's exhaustion was because he destroyed this new soul anchor.

"Yep," Luna replied, "And here it is!"

With a flourish, Luna presented the Diadem, freshly polished, placing the Founder's artifact before Hermione. The bushy haired time traveler stared at the Diadem for a moment before her hand shot out, her fingers quick to trace the engraved sliver headdress.

Hermione could feel her gift, her Past's Sight, react to the relic, though for a moment she held back her talent, wanting to examine it with her more mundane scenes.

"We found it the room Harry found," Luna supplied, knowing Hermione would want the story, "Just sitting on a table. Harry used the Killing Curse to kill the soul fragment."

"And its original enchantments still work," Hermione inquired.

"Yes, thought when it still was a Horcrux, Riddle's fragment seemed to fight the enchantments Ravenclaw placed on it. Perhaps the other objects can have their original purpose restored once we cleanse them," Luna mused.

"Well we know where the Locket is, and Hufflepuff's Cup is one we think he used," Hermione pondered, "We just don't know where he hid it."

"A relic of Hufflepuff, Slytherin and Ravenclaw," Luna counted on her fingers, "the Diary and Ring. That's five and he won't have made the sixth one, the snake, yet, right?"

Hermione nodded, "Yeah, Harry things Riddle won't make her one until next summer. She'll be the hardest one to deal with."

"Unless Riddle has the Cup guarded by a heliopath or two, they can be quite vicious."

Hermione was about to retort, when her detection ward went off again, followed by the second sending the pleasant sensation of ghosting fingers down her back. Harry rounded the corner, smiling as he approached.

Luna quickly wrapped him in a hug, "Have a good rest?"

Harry, returning the hug, responded, "Yeah. Ran into Malfoy before I could head up here."

"What happened," Hermione inquired, vividly remembering how Harry was effected by Malfoy's fate.

"Well, let's just say, Malfoy might not follow in his future footsteps," Harry responded, taking a seat across from Hermione with Luna following suit, "But enough about me, what did you find out today? Luna seems to have told you about our day."

Hermione slid her translated notes to the two, "Slytherin and Gryffindor were members of a magical militia group called the Order of the Wardens. Most of his writings were about their activities and battles."

As Harry and Luna read Hermione's notes, said bookworm continued her examination of the Diadem. While the outside bore only the markings of its decorations, the inside had a number of runes etched into the silver; three rows impossibly small lines of magical formula ran the entire length of the headpiece.

Hermione's study of the artifact was cut short as Luna's small foot nudged her leg from under the table. "Find something interesting," Luna asked, a smile adorning her face.

Hermione flushed, embarrassed that she fell into her habit of being too engrossed in study to be aware of her surroundings. "Yes I did. The rune formulas are tiny, its almost impossible to read them. Whatever spells Ravenclaw weaved into this must be incredibly intricate to need so many runes to keep it empowered."

"What does it do anyway," Harry asked.

Luna supplied the answer, "Based on what I could tell, the Diadem's enchanted to increase the wearer's brainpower in every aspect. Memory recall becomes perfect, thoughts become clearer and come faster, and I think there's something like that Muggle A.E thing that helps with sifting through information."

"That's A.I., Luna," Hermione interjected, "Artificial Intelligence in a computer. Still those are some impressive enchantments."

Hermione stared at the Diadem for a moment before she looked to Harry, "I have an idea, Harry. I want to see what the Diadem's seen. Maybe we can see when Riddle made it his Horcrux. Do you think you can link your and Luna's mind with mine when I do?"

Harry nodded as he drew his wand. He pressed it to Hermione's forehead and muttered " _ **Nexilio**_ _."_ As he drew the wand away, a thin strand of ghostly sliver followed. He moved his wand to Luna, pressing it to her brow and then to his own forehead, before completing the circuit by returning to Hermione.

"We're all linked up," Harry reported, the silver thread pulsing.

Hermione took a breath and allowed her power to take hold, the disorienting effect somewhat lessened by anticipation. Hermione tried to focus her ability, wanting to see a specific moment of the object's history.

 _Images flashed to quickly to completely make out, a flash of a workspace, a regal looking women with dark hair preforming elaborate spellcraft, a younger looker women running, a dark forest ringing with the screams of pain and loss. Things stilled at this forest, older now but no less dark. A young man, handsome with dark hair and cold eyes, approached a particular tree. A pale wand of yew flashed out, sweeping away the ancient spells that protected the tree. The tarnished Diadem was pulled from the hollowed tree, a twisted cruel smile blooming on the man's face._

 _The scene changed, now a village, Muggle by the attire. A young woman smiled coquettishly at the young man, who met her smile with a cheeky wink. He led her away from home and safety, deep into the woods, before he drew pale yew and a flash of green tore her life away._

 _The man placed the Diadem upon the ground and brandished his wand with practiced precision. He lay the tip upon his breast, upon his heart and uttered, " **Thanati Dimiourgos Zoius** ". He ripped his wand from his breast, a mass of phantom black pulled along, directed to the Diadem. The black mass latched to the silver crown, sinking into the tarnished metal. _

An upward pull ended the vision, the three time travelers shuttered as they returned to the present. "You two alright," Hermione asked as she wiped her brow.

"I'm good," Harry responded and Luna nodded.

Hermione regarded the Diadem. "I knew the process of making one of these would be horrific, but it seemed to easy for Riddle."

"He'd already made the Diary," Harry said, "Maybe the ring too. But yeah, for something so evil, its unsettling how easy it looked for him to make it."

"I don't think we know all the details," Luna pipped in, her face pensive, "Riddle may need to prepare beforehand to ready his soul to be split. Then he has to commit the murder to make his soul malleable enough to rip it apart."

"Agreed," Hermione said, frowning, "There's still too much we don't know. And since we don't have any avenue for more research, we'll need to shelve this research. We still have a lot on our plate to occupy our time."

"Good thing we now have a bit of a cheat, then," Harry said, motioning to the Diadem, "Anyone up for an all night work session?"

* * *

 **Here we are at the end. A year later and we're still not done with the school year. It will be done next chapter, which I promise will come out soon. Hit me with some reviews to fuel my typing. Good Bye.**


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